I understand not wanting a completely open floor plan. While I keep a tidy kitchen, I still would rather not have my kitchen visible from the front door!

You need to enlarge your layout that you've attached so that the dimensions can be read. If you provide a scaled drawing with dimensions that can be read for all walls/windows/doorways/etc., you will receive quite a bit of helpful advice/suggestions from people. I've seen some incredible layouts provided by pros + non pros who have learned a lot about kitchen designs from being on Houzz for awhile.

Also, add some info re: how many people live in the home + if you entertain a lot (or host large family gatherings). I'm assuming that you have a good sized budget based upon your needs/wants listed in your post.

If you know which interior walls are structural, please indicate those on your layout. I assume that you are willing to remove/change structural walls as part of this renovation, if that's incorrect, please let us know. Also, if you have any odd HOA rules re: changing the exterior of your home, that would also be helpful to know (example, I know someone who had a late 60s - early 70s home that was in a subdivision that wouldn't allow the addition/enlargement of windows on the sides of the home - very odd - I guess it was a privacy issue related to seeing into neighbors' homes? All I do know is that it was a very unusual restriction in a non-historic neighborhood (those types of homes might not allow any exterior changes without approval).

Your home has a lot of potential!

I'm confused by your floorplan and photos.

In the 1st and 3rd photos, is the space with dining table and dining chairs the space shown in the floorplan as the "dining ROOM"?

In the 2nd photo, is the empty space with some doors and a open cupboard the "dining NOOK"?

If that is so, then either those spaces have been reversed in the floorplan OR in the floorplan's kitchen layout the "U" counter and straight counter have been reversed.

{Imagine in the 1st photo you are standing at the kitchen sink facing the sink/window. In the photo, the dining room is to your left. In the floorplan, the dinning room is to your right.]

Can you recheck and clarify? Ideally, post a more complete floorplan for the house? At a minimum, where do those doors from dining nook go - garage, hall, laundry room? How do you get to the bedrooms? Any second story?

Also, you want the kitchen mess contained behind a wall, but you want the dining room in the same room as the kitchen?

Anyway, one obvious option is to expand the kitchen into the empty space that I think is the "dining nook", take down the wall between kitchen and dining room (so that mess can flow cohesively), move the range to an exterior wall for venting or put a duct up through the roof (if house is single-story), etc.

I don’t have the exact dimensions of the home. The home did not have a floor plan per-say or footprint. The above layout image is something I created.

Do you use the open space as a dining space at all? Would you? Or do you want to just use the dining room el behind the living room?

" The above layout image is something I created. " Did it get reversed somehow? Do you see what I am saying, about the photos and the plan not matching up?

[According to the plan, photos 1 and 3 should show a stairwell instead of a dining room.]

The reason people are asking questions about the layout of the house beyond the area shown in the plan is because it may matter - e.g. don't want to suggest using the "dining nook" as the dining room if that area opens to the garage, don't want to suggest a vented hood at current range position if there is a bedroom above, don't want to suggest moving/removing walls if they are structural.

The floor plan does not match the photos at all.

are you casual in your lifestyle ? the dining being just the one side of an L shape living room could stay there and be made a bit more integral to kitchen by simply widening the passage between....you can make the dining room a destination with easier flow in and out ....and when able....decorate accordingly. It looks too narrow anyway. the area of the peninsula and all the empty floor space beyond is available it appears. You can do your kitchen in a few ways. Please show the whole 1st floor .most important is where you come in w groceries...where is the main entry ....where is a family room ....bedroom wing .....these things determine the foot traffic .....Kitchens ideally do not want foot traffic down the middle so this info helps determine how to renovate. .

thinking ahead if you want appliance counter space and dont need an island but prefer a coffee station you may be able to integrate a Niche alcove for a few needs .

The Working Pantry / Invaluable Hidden Workspace · More Info

Hire a professional kitchen and bath designer. Have a realistically robust budget for creating the most expensive room in the house to be half of your house.

As others have stated, we need more information. A fully-measured layout (that's readable!) of any spaces that may be affected. In your case, Kitchen, Dining Room, Dining Nook, Hall, and Living Room. We also need a sketch of the entire floor the Kitchen is on - probably 1st floor, but could be different. Finally, we need the answers to some questions.

All this and more is in the Featured Answer of the "New to Kitchens? Read Me First!" thread.

Excerpt here:

By "fully-measured", we mean a layout with the widths of each wall/window/door/doorway and the distances between each wall/window/door/doorway labeled. See a sample below. If something cannot be moved or changed, label it precisely on your layout (see post in sample) and tell us why it cannot be moved/changed -- we may have some ideas for you.

The sketch of the entire floor lets us see how the Kitchen relates to the rest of the home. It doesn't have to be to-scale, but it should accurately show how the rooms relate to each other and should include all interior & exterior doors. In addition, it will help us see how traffic flows in, around, and through the Kitchen. Label the front entry and family entry. The family entry is usually a garage or side entry, but it might not be. It's helpful to know which door you use to bring in groceries.

Regardless of how you draw it up (by hand, computer, etc.), please be sure all measurements are labeled. (Note: Computer generated layouts often lack key measurements and, sometimes, measure to/from things like the middle of a wall or the middle of a window. Neither are useful. Measure each item and the distances between each item.)

Other questions...

• Tell us about you and your family and how you plan to use your Kitchen. All-adults? Empty Nesters? Children (now or in the future)?
• What appliances (& their sizes) do you plan to have?
• Where are you flexible? Can walls/windows/doors/doorways change (move, change size, add, delete)?
• Do you have a basement under the Kitchen or are you on a slab?

The sample layout is in the Read Me thread posted above.

FYI...we cannot read the dimensions in the layout you posted, they're blurry and too small.

See how blurry they are?

Are you in the house now? Or, have you just purchased it and not yet closed on it?

If the former, then you can take the measurements and post them here.

If the latter, when will you get into the house? You may have to wait to proceed until you have access to the house. No KD - in-person or online - can give you meaningful help without more information.