Hi quirk,

Just to confirm: that white rectangle on your floor is the stairs to the basement, right?

I'm no expert, but I have to say I'm definitely in favour of opening up the kitchen to the rest of the space! The only thing I would say is that if to think about the visibility of the sink from the living room -- no likes looking at a pile of dirty dishes while relaxing on the couch... :)

Yes, that's my stairs. Just right out in the middle of everything. ;-)

I like layout B...but I would leave the walls around the basement stairs and open up the wall between the kitchen and (living room?) so you can add the stools. This way, the kitchen is part of the entertaining area...you can still see into the dining area...but you have a little separation, between the two.

Another thing to consider...do you want to open your basement stairs, to your main level? Is it a finished basement or perhaps more of a cellar? Do you ever plan to have kids or pets that you might want to keep out of the basement? Do you think you'll ever sell this home and future buyers might want to keep the basement closed off?

Another benefit is that you don't see all your spaces at one time, but you can see both from the kitchen. You also won't be staring at dirty dishes around the stove or sink, while you're sitting in the dining room. Just my two cents :)

Hi, lavender-- the stairs are already open to the living room with a railing along that side. I like the look. There's a door at the bottom of the stairs to enter the basement. To be clear, I'm not considering removing the staircase walls below floor level, they would stay going down the staircase to the door. So the stairs would be open to the main level (as they already are, just more so), but not open to the basement. The basement is partially finished (you enter the finished area) but not air conditioned and while it has heat I don't turn it on unless I'm going to be down there for a while, so I wouldn't want to totally open it up to the main level for that reason alone.

Layout B simply does not work for me functionally, as I have it drawn now. I would love to figure out changes to it that would make it work, which is what I'm really hoping people might have ideas about. As much as I love the concept, I use my kitchen daily to cook in, and it needs to be a functional cooking space first. I refuse to remodel into something less functional that I started with. Even if it's pretty.

My issues with it:

Where does my cutting board live (ie, where is my prep space)? By the sink or by the cooktop? If it's by the cooktop, will having prep away from the sink drive me bonkers? (only across the aisle, I know, but still). If it's by the sink, where do my countertop appliances go? There's not counter space for a prep area, microwave, toaster oven, and coffee pot all along that wall, and I don't see putting any of the other things on the island area. Who wants the back side of your microwave facing your living room? If I get rid of the double ovens, I could get a bit more counter space, but I still don't think enough? Alternatively, if I switch the sink and cooktop, I could prep on the island by the sink (good) but then the cooktop is in front of the window (how do I have a hood?) and the counter space around the cooktop becomes crowded with appliances (annoying while cooking).

Where do my spices and oils live? Currently, the most used are on the counter by the cooktop and the others are in an upper cabinet next to it. Pans and utensils are in the lower cabs. With the island placement (no uppers) or switched with the sink (crowded counters), where do they all go?

It also moves the pantry a lot farther away from my working area. I'd be willing to live with that to open up the area if it were the only sacrifice I were making, but as it is, it just adds to the lack of functionality.

In layout A, either the microwave and toaster oven would go to the left of the sink and the coffee pot would go between the fridge and ovens (what I'm leaning toward) or vice versa. Cutting board/prep area to the right of the sink, plenty of counter space and uppers around the cooktop for my spices, and pantry is still right there conveniently handy. Functionality problems solved. But the kitchen then is still a separate space from everything else, which is not really my preference. I don't tend to cook as a discrete activity where I go into the kitchen and do things in there until I'm done. Sometimes I do, but more often I'll be going back and forth between kitchen and the rest of the house, possibly doing other stuff in the house, or just watching tv or reading-- especially when baking bread or making stock or something that takes a long time from start to finish but little tending. I think it would feel like a more cohesive space to have it all one room. Plus, I absolutely love my living room--it just feels like an incredibly inviting space; already a large, open room with the big picture window to the back yard, and I would like to bring that feel into the kitchen/dining area. Since I've been in the house, I've moved my dining room table several times back and forth between where I have it shown in the "as is" layout, and into the area in the living room just past the kitchen, under the chandelier in the first picture. I think it *should* go where I'm showing it, but I only ever sit and eat at it when it's in the other space-- partly because I can watch tv from there, true, but also because I just like being in that room more. I know that getting rid of the dark paneling and dingy floor will help a lot, though, even if I leave the walls up.