Probably the best feedback you will receive is on the "Lighting Forum".
There are several helpful experts there!

Good luck with home, that must be "ONE TALL TALL Two Story,
based on your name? May I recommend adding a stairway?

Gary

I don't usually comment on the layouts of really big spaces/houses like yours since I think my internal sense of scale doesn't match them, so my advice isn't very useful.

But I was intrigued by the combo of your user name and thread title (LOL, the association I made was using the kitchen as a riggers' hangar).

Anyhoo, here's what caught my eye:

a) You have a lot of space devoted to circulation within the kitchen envelope. Maybe it just works out that way when combined with other space uses in the house, or maybe you could do with less and use the space in another room. Don't know and can't tell from the fragment of the drawing.

b) On the kitchen score, I think I would consider moving the range from the present position. It's not enjoyable to stand at the range in what functions as a corrider to somepklace else. I know because that's what I have now. Obviously you have to be standing in some form of open space, but it shouldn't be one that people use to go anywhere except to/from the range, IMO.

HTH

L

@Gary - ah, the lighting forum would be a good place to start. I will re-post. And my user name is based off my Twitter and blog names. But yes, it does fit with the tall house!

@liriodendron - I don't want my range in the island, (I'll have a range and then a separate single wall oven/micro.) Where would you move the range?

We had to enlarge the kitchen so my husband could have a bigger garage. I didn't want to enlarge the breakfast or keeping rooms, as they are already pretty big, so I kept the kitchen big, because that's where everyone gathers.

I added another layout that shows the entire main level.

Here is a link that might be useful: Main Level Layout

Well, as I mentioned I don't really get the point of such ginormous spaces. I can, however, see a couple of things on the first floor plan that are not space related, or at least directly space-related.

Is your house still in the planning stage so that changes can be made?

1) I would really find that having the only access to my wonderful walk-in clothes closets to be through the bathroom highly annoying. For me I see a progression: bath (naked), dressing room with storage of clothes, eventually to emerge, dressed, in bedroom. So having the bathroom in between clothes and bedroom wouldn't work for me. I like privacy in my bathroom and wouldn't want other household members (or staff) traisping through get something or leave pressed clothes whilst I was bathing. That's why I think the bathroom should be the last in the chain, or at least not in the middle. Best plan I think is for clothes storage space and bathroom to both intersect with bedroom independently (perhaps with secondary pathway between bath and closet).

2) Path from kitch to FDR is not v. convenient and it looks like FDR would be rarely used. Do you need that space if you're not going to use it?

3) Is that garage a front-loader? Can access be moved to the side? I think it's much more attractive that way. You can avoid a blank-looking garage wall by adding windows.

4) As to kitchen: I would move the range to the wall where the frig is now and move the fridge over to the wall where the range is, maybe concentrating additinal pantry storage on that wall, not prep counter-top. Though retaining enough countertop to make fridge loading easy. You have room for all fridge /all freezer combo, I think. Now I also think the wee little prep-sink island will be a big problem. As you say, people tend to gather in kitchens and the more island perimeter edges they have, the more they will gather at the wrong places and you'll be playing a long-running game of "excuse me" while trying to get the meal out. I would simplify things and make the island with the seating longer and bend around, maybe even deeper, to. This would define your main working zone and serve to keep non-cooks out of the cockpit area. If your household would include staff for serving (say caterer's staf for formal parties) I would consider making the connection between FDR and kitchen stronger, perhaps by relocating the lavatory.

If there is still time, I think you would get much useful feedback asking for ideas about the kitchen layout from the Kitchen forum. There are many people there that have worked on houses of your scale who will be better than I at working out improvements to the present design.

Hope these ideas may be useful if not, ignore 'em!

L

You asked a question about lighting! (And I answered everything but that.)

I wasn't clear if the two-stories are open to the underside of a roof (sloped) or just to a high flat ceiling. Is it possible you could have clerestory windows along the perimeter? They are great for letting in very good light. If you live in hot climate the ability to open high windows would make your kitchen lovely and cool. Some people object to fans in kitchens on the grounds that they fling little bits of snarfy-fluff on your food, but having lived in places with tall kitchens and fans I never found it so, but those spaces had huge, v. slow spinning fans as it was the tropics (and no a/c) in old colonial buildings.

If your space is properly proportioned, the height vs sq ft shouldn't give you a bottom-of-the-well sensation. You could counter act that (assuming you didn't have clerestory or other windows above) by creating a focal plane (chandy, hanging, mobile, fan, etc.) at a height that worked better than full-height. Paint the walls above this point and the ceiling the same gauzy light color and you wouldn't notice any over-scale height. Plan on undercab light, too, to draw the eye downward, and perhaps even a well-chosen table lamp on a counter.

HTH,

L.