You know your Ikea stuff!! I know.....the good thing is they would fit perfectly. How do you like your kitchen in the front? It does have it benefits, like you always know what's going on in the neighborhood. But it's also the first thing you see when you walk in. I was going to convert the kitchen into a bedroom, so I wouldn't be loosing anything, just switching around what I have now.

I prefer having our kitchen in front, but our front door is our primary entrance. We have a small mudroom type space by the front door. When you open the front door, you don't look into the kitchen, you're facing the the dining/living room and our windows beyond. I designed it so the sink is a bit tucked out of sight. We also have a good sized front yard so if I did want to keep an eye on the kids from inside, they can play safely out front. I personally like feeling more connected to the neighborhood from the kitchen and having our living space in back more private. But, that's all just us and our house and how we live. I think it's very important that your house work for you. You're welcome to post a drawing of what you're considering.

You do know what is involved in removing a load-bearing wall, don't you? That will run you into some money to replace it with a steel beam. It could be great in the long run, but definitely pricey.

I also agree that if you have only three or four bedrooms, you don't want to lose one (unless you are trading spaces and putting a bedroom where the kitchen is now-then you won't be losing anything!

Judy, we are exactly doing the same thing --moving from the front to the back. The MAIN reason is that the current kitchen serves as the main passageway to the ENTIRE house. My cooktop, oven and peninsula are all in this aisle. It is not that I hate a front kitchen, but the layout can never be improved without moving something (wall or plumbing) and yet it there is still an aisle to deal with. Turns out relocating to the back is the best. My advice? Let your house and lifestyle guide you.

Can you post a plan of your home? Maybe moving the kitchen is a good idea....maybe not. But you will definitely get a bunch of options, if you post your floor plan :)

Yes, please post a floor plan. Even hand-drawn is fine as long as it has the dimensions. There are some really creative folks here who would be glad to help you come up with a solution that works best for you.

It's to small to see, Judy. Can you try again?

Sounds like a good idea to me. We moved our kitchen (also ikea) into our dining room, took out a load bearing wall (yes needed contractor and structural engineer) and the old kitchen basically turned into closets. No regrets! But, kitchen in our new build will face the backyard, I want to be able to see the kids back there.

EXACTLY kirstyeg!! I can not see them in the front!!

real life view!

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ONE huge last thing....I hate my apartment size refrigerator. I have a real one (that has ice maker and actual water that comes out of it) in the basement because it wouldn't fit in kitchen. The only way I can make it fit is to enlarge kitchen or move to back of house. I was even thinking of moving it into the room behind the living room and then making the smaller room a dining room with a family room addition on the back of that.

I like the new layout a lot. But I might be biased...it's very similar to the house we are planning to build in the fall- the LR/DR and kitchen in an L shape like that. We must have similar taste ;) The nice thing is that it gives your house a proper entry way, or, the old kitchen space could make a great mud room. (Especially if you moved the front door over a bit so you have a straight shot into the living room)

I was looking at your proposed layouts. Unfortunately, an 8 foot wide room isn't useful for anything but a galley kitchen or a bathroom. The present kitchen would not really make a proper family room or bedroom. Are you combining the porch and kitchen to make one room?

YES!! My kitchen is 8' wide!! Ugh!

I was going to add an 8 x 6 laundry room behind the porch that I join together with my current kitchen.

Before attempting to help you with your plan, I have some questions and concerns.

#1 - Unless that bad is only about 3.5-4 feet long (a crib?) there is no way a bad will fit turned like that in a 6-foot room. A regular single bed is 75" long (6 feet, 3 inches). So it would be sticking into the wall if it as turned the way you drew it.

It's hard to be accurate without your drawing being on graph paper, but a regular single bed (39" wide x 75" long) would fill that bedroom something like this:

You really need to get some graph paper. Look at the size of the bed you drew. Now look at the sectional and the dining room table. Is your sectional really that big? Things are just rather off without something to help keep it to scale. And this makes it a lot harder for us to help you with your planning.

#2 - An 18x8 foot room is more narrow than you have drawn it. Again, the drawing is not to scale. It would look more like this. Longer and narrower.

It would be a very difficult room to use and furnish.

If you changed the location of the bedroom to the pink square (see below), it would still be a super tiny bedroom at 7x8-feet, but it would at least give you a decent space for use as a family room.

I'm going to start a new post to discuss the other issues.

I'll repost the drawing with the numbers on it so we can address questions 3 and up.

#3 & 4 - do the lines drawn through indicate that you plan to tear down these walls?

#5 - That door is in a bad spot for planning the best kitchen layout. Could it be moved over to where the 6 is? Or, if those walls are coming down between the kitchen and dining room, do you really need a door in the kitchen itself? Why not just walk a couple of feet and use the French door?

#7 - I just want to verify that this is, indeed, a bathroom.

#8 - You show it on one plan but it's crossed of here. Is that space you intend to add or not? If the budget won't allow for an addition there, could the W/D be turned to allow the laundry room to also be a mud room? What are the dimensions of the laundry room?

I suspect you'll have more people popping in to give advice if you can provide a layout that is to scale on graph paper.

I think your idea has merit and is workable but it's really hard to advise further without better source material to work with.

Not certain where this house is located but the same comments may come in to play as with moving the stairs in the other thread. You may need to bring the entire house (all plumbing & electric, etc) if you start relocating rooms.

Thank you for your hard work looking at my layout!! Yes, it's a cross post, so we decided against moving the stairs. To address funkycamper....

I'll repost the drawing with the numbers on it so we can address questions 3 and up.

#3 & 4 - do the lines drawn through indicate that you plan to tear down these walls? YES. ONE IS LOAD BEARING THE OTHER IS NOT.

#5 - That door is in a bad spot for planning the best kitchen layout. Could it be moved over to where the 6 is? Or, if those walls are coming down between the kitchen and dining room, do you really need a door in the kitchen itself? Why not just walk a couple of feet and use the French door? THE STUPID A/C COMPRESSOR IS RIGHT BELOW YOUR NUMBER SIX. I CAN HAVE IT MOVE, SO YES, WE COULD DO YOUR IDEA.

#7 - I just want to verify that this is, indeed, a bathroom. YES IT IS MY SMALL BATHROOM!

#8 - You show it on one plan but it's crossed of here. Is that space you intend to add or not? If the budget won't allow for an addition there, could the W/D be turned to allow the laundry room to also be a mud room? What are the dimensions of the laundry room? THE REASON IT WAS CROSSED OUT WAS I HAVE DONE THIS LAYOUT SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THAT ONE OF THE WAYS WAS TO LEAVE THE KITCHEN WHERE IT IS, ADD A MUDROOM/LAUNDRY ROOM AND JUST DORMER UPSTAIRS TO ADD THREE BEDROOM AND A NICE SIZE FULL BATHROOM. (WHICH TODAY, AFTER BEING WITH HUBBY ON THE BEACH ALL DAY, WE ARE LEANING TO. HE THINKS MOVING THE KITCHEN WILL BE TO STRESSFUL FOR US WITH TWO LITTLE GIRLS. BUT IF I ADD ON THE ONE THAT'S CROSSED OFF, IT WOULD BE 8 X 6 SO IT'S AROUND THE ONE THAT I PUT ON THIS PLAN WOULD BE.

I suspect you'll have more people popping in to give advice if you can provide a layout that is to scale on graph paper.

I think your idea has merit and is workable but it's really hard to advise further without better source material to work with.

I ONLY have 25,000 to make things work! So maybe a dormer would be cheaper and easier.

I'm horrible at estimating costs as we do everything DIY. Takes a LOT longer but also saves $$$. If you go to Homewyse there are a lot of calculators to help you get an idea of the cost of various types of projects. You might want to fool around with that to get some rough cost estimates.

You might also consider enclosing that porch next to the kitchen. If it has a solid foundation and roof, this could be a relatively inexpensive way to expand your kitchen and get you room for a bigger fridge. You could even do a partial enclosure to save money and gain some advantages. Something like this where the fridge is walled in on the porch. Changing the door swing would free up some kitchen space. Or maybe changing it to a french-door slider?

If you simply moved your current door down and enclosed the fridge so it could sit on the porch, it would free up some space in your small kitchen. I'm not sure if that location is the best without better seeing your kitchen's layout but it would be a small expense for now and then you could revisit remodeling the kitchen at another time.

Just an idea to consider. You need to decide which remodel project gives you the most value for the money you have to spend.

Would you like to post a scale drawing of your current kitchen layout to see if we could help you make a few tweaks to make that small space work better for you without a total remodel?

Okay funky camper.....here is my complete house. I have 25000 and we can do a lot of our own work. We have two adult married kids and two little girls that were adopted from China we are also 51 and hope to retire in this house. How and where can I fix my problems:

1. Bigger eating area for big family diners with all the kids.

2. Washer and dryer out of basement. To old to be doing so much laundry going up and down

3 three functional bedrooms with closets that i don't have to bend over to get in

4 I can't see the girls in yard when I am in the kitchen

5. The only way to get out back is thru a room that was a bedroom.

have at it!!

I do not think there is anyway possible to do all you want to do to that house with 25K unfortunately even doing ALL your own work.

That 25K wouldn't even cover the needed infrastructure changs that would need to happen to begin to go down that road. A bedroom has a code minimum 7x10 requirement, and has to contain a closet. Some locations require even larger. What you're proposing wouldn't even be a good bathroom size. Plus all the rest of the money pit ideas.

Move, keep saving until you have 8x your current savings, or, accept the house for what it is. It's a charming entry level home in which to start a family. Love it, or leave it. Don't waste your time and money trying to change it's nature. You'd have more success trying to turn a greasey biker gang into a Fortune 500 board of directors in suits and ties.

Well...Sophie put it pretty bleakly but she is correct you cannot do that remodel on that budget. If the issue that started this is that you really hate that refrigerator then lose the column of cabinets to its left and install the refrigerator that you like and store the other stuff in your basement instead of the refrigerator. I would also consider posting just the kitchen and dining room space and asking for help on the layout. Telling people that you're not moving walls, windows or doors. Maybe there is a better layout in the existing footprint.

Sophie.....That was a bit harsh and discouraging, but I am sure your right to a degree. We decided to covert the porch and cantilever 3' x 6' so that one side will have the refrigerator, that's to suggestion from here, and the other side will hold my stackable w/d. That solves three of my issues! The porch will be done by my contractor/friend for costs and all he wants is diners for the time he's working. Next that free's up two bedrooms on the first floor. My now living room becomes a nice big dining room at 11'4" x 16'. I remove the non-load bearing wall separating the two rooms. The living room moves behind the dining room with a nice set of sliders to the back yard. The small room remains my small den/tv room with more windows and also matching sliding doors! The dormer will wait for a year, when we will then have more money and the girls will be older. Thanks to all of you for all your help!

I think that sounds like a good, workable solution that shouldn't cost much and help you keep most of your budget for the upstairs work next year. Just moving the fridge out of your narrow kitchen should make it feel more roomy. What are you planning on putting in the space the fridge occupies now? Open shelves for cookbooks and display? Other? I'm curious.

I hope you're able to keep the door out to the porch so you have the extra entrance. I sometimes wish I had a door to outside from my kitchen instead of in the the laundry room next to it. It would make me feel more like I'm outside even when I'm stuck inside.

I don't recall if I mentioned this previously but I think your home looks very charming and tastefully decorated so I hope you'll come back and share photos of your finished project. Best wishes.

Cute house. Destroying it's charm by cutting it up and trying to piece it back together is the last thing to do here. The first would be exploring moving. The second would be an addition of some kind. The third would be to tough it out until you had more savings and could do either of the first two with less financial strain.

Moving is not an option because we love the street, neighbors, and we don't want to move our little girls again. We are keeping the house in tack, because I want to keep the integrity of it, so we will do two shed dormers. We have an architect friend who is flying in a week to go over it with us so I will keep you all posted!

Hi, Judy. This is what I've been thinking on for your first floor. It started with the idea to make your kitchen a galley (I have a 7'5" wide galley. It's very efficient. I love galleys.) And to open up the wall between the kitchen and the back hallway to improve flow to other parts of the house.

from there, I thought that if you move the side door toward the front of the house, you'd increase your kitchen size. You'd lose the small dining area, but it would be a logical spot for a drop zone.

As the room closest to the kitchen and to feature your nice bay window, I think the front room would make a nice dining room. There's easily enough room for a couple cozy chairs for coffee and a table for six.

If you remove the too-shallow closet in the back room (maybe replace it with a closet by the front door) and change the entry location, the back room would make a nice family room facing the back yard.

ive commented about our fireplace and chimney removal here on GW before, but it wasn't as expensive as you'd think and it freed up valuable space. I'm thinking if you are able to remove the chimney and put in a 6' patio door, it might afford you the ability to peek around the corner and check on the girls in the backyard without having to walk all the way thru the house

I was trying to think of the most minimally invasive way to improve the function of your cozy home:

If a main floor washer and dryer is more important to you than your hallway, you could do this. It would mean your bathroom is off a room that is off another room. But your washer dryer would be more convenient for you...

benjesbride!!!! YOU GET AN A++++!!! You have done all the things I have considered expect I didn't figure on reopening the door in the kitchen and rearranging it!!! I LOVE IT!!!! I can't thank you enough for lovingly taking the time to help me!!! My only question with this layout is what can I do with the screened in porch? Would you leave it? Or what about if that becomes my laundry room?

What program did you use to change my layout and what about extending the kitchen into the porch area and just making it a complete working kitchen and using the dining room as my main eating area? I am going to for sure, reopen that wall in the back hallway. I would also remove the wall between the new living room and dining room and really open it all up. It's not a load bearing wall. I am sooo excited about this layout!! Also, I would really love a fireplace!! What about a nice corner one somewhere? I LOVE the washer and dryer where you put it!!! And what if I removed the wall between the living room and small den and make the living room bigger and take the other part and turn it into a mud room/washer dryer drop off area?

Reminder while moving is not part of your current plan, should you ever want to move your buyer's lender will not lend on the unpermitted portion of the house which means that unless you pull permits you could end up selling for less....

Folks here at GW seem to be split on whether the W/D should be near the main living area so one is closer to the laundry area while doing their daily routines vs. having it nearer the bedrooms so one doesn't have to haul far, especially up/down stairs. I'm in the latter category. Especially if the bedrooms are on another floor. Is there someplace upstairs, near your bathroom, where the laundry can go? Perhaps in a hall closet? We moved our W/D upstairs in the main bath to be near all the bedrooms in our last home and it was heavenly. No more lugging laundry baskets around.

Since your budget is limited, I would probably, at this point, keep the screen porch because it looks quite charming and the load-bearing wall. Save your money for the dormers. Later on, you could always make those changes. If it was my house, I would prefer an eating nook to a downstairs laundry room.

If you want to consider the upstairs laundry and need help on where to put it, submit a floor plan of that floor. We would need to know how the second floor lays over the first floor.

Hi, Judy! I've been in the car most of the day, so I wasn't able to thoroughly reply sooner.

I'm glad my drawings were helpful to you. You had some questions. First, I think the second floor deserves the chunk of the budget in your house--dormers, a shower-- so I encourage you to keep your eye on that prize.

...what can I do with the screened in porch? Would you leave it? Or what about if that becomes my laundry room? For now, I'd leave it. Maybe in construction phase 2 you could turn it into a laundry room.

What program did you use... Just MS Paint

...what about extending the kitchen into the porch area and just making it a complete working kitchen and using the dining room as my main eating area? I'm not a professional, but it's my suspicion that absorbing the screened in porch into the kitchen is a lot more expensive than your budget can handle.

I would also remove the wall between the new living room and dining room and really open it all up. I caution you against totally opening that wall between the proposed dining and living rooms. You'd effectively be turning your 3 bedroom house into a two bedroom house with a disproportionately large living space. If you want openness between the dining and living, I recommend an opening that can be easily framed in and drywalled. If you need to sell, you can stage the bay window room as a dining/living space and the backroom could still be closed up and marketed as a bedroom. One more advantage to this idea is less floor or ceiling patching. You're going to have the back of your sectional there anyway, so I'd save the $$$ and keep the wall.

I LOVE the washer and dryer where you put it!!! And what if I removed the wall between the living room and small den and make the living room bigger and take the other part and turn it into a mud room/washer dryer drop off area? I love your enthusiasm for the washer/dryer idea, but I don't like it. I think a better long term plan would be to turn the screened porch into a laundry room. Deleting the hallway and removing that load bearing wall... these things would kill your house IMO. The first floor bedroom is very valuable. At some point your girls will probably share the upstairs and you'll be in the main floor bedroom. I would preserve it.

I redrew your floor plan with structural changes in pink. I re-thought your kitchen and to avoid a change to your exterior window you could move the screen porch door all the way toward the front of the house. The fridge could g on that open end of the kitchen making it easier for door swing.

If budget allowed further kitchen modifications, you could move the sink to under the window next to the fridge:

Another thing many who have the same house on our street have done was to take the 6' screened in porch and add 6' down the whole side of the house. It gives you a very large kitchen, a laundry room in back of bathroom and a very nice master bedroom when you incorporate the existing smaller bedroom in with it.

Would love to see photos of the finished kitchen in it's new location! Thinking of doing this as well.