Your changes sound good and doable, except maybe double ovens. Not a ton of wall space in kitchen. Is that a second island shown? Do not do 2 islands.

The family room is really quite narrow... The 15' is really 12' because you have to allow for walkway to the bedrooms. Make sure you can fit all of the seating you want.

This is pretty simple plan. Do you really need all four Dining Room, Living room, Family room and Nook?

Picture in your mind this house with all your changes in just the way you want them. Picture yourself living in this perfect home. Write down all the things that you like about this home that you are living in in your mind. Take the list to a local architect and have them design a home with you.

Don't take someone else's home and try to fix it. Make a home for you.

Where do the stairs in the middle of the house go? Are the dormers sylights? What will you use the living room for? Would it be more useful as an office? What's your lot like? Are you sure a front loader is the right choice for you? What kind of outdoor space would make you happiest? Does this plan provide that?

I would spend some time thinking about how you want to use each room, then take the inspiration and those thoughts to an architect. You can get there without an architect, by modifying an existing plan, but from personal experience that road has a lot more speed bumps.

What's upstairs?

Thanks everyone for your feedback.

@emilyam819 That is a 2nd island in the kitchen. It is storage with columns that go up to cabinets at top with glass doors. My wife really liked that because she felt it gave some division between the kitchen and living room. Why do you say not to do 2 islands? Very good point about width of family room. I did not think of that.

@Brian's We don't really need all 4. The one we would eliminate if it came to it would be the formal living room. The dining room is a must as we plan to host many holiday's.

@Mark Thanks that makes sense. There was just something about this house when we saw it. We haven't gotten that feeling with a lot of the other houses we looked at.

@poolroomcomesfirst The stairs in the middle go to the basement. The dormers are not skylights, they go to the attic.

@jn3344 There is a bonus room upstairs over the garage. It has a full bath so it can be used as a guest room, bedroom, whatever really.

Maybe going to an architect and give them ideas of what we are looking for would be a good idea.

We looked at a few new construction houses that the builder is currently doing. My wife is struggling with some of the side loading garage plans the builder has done and showed us. The garage is so prominent in the front of the house in a lot of them.

I always wonder if you really want 3 different eating areas within steps of the kitchen in what is a small space anyway (kitchen bar, breakfast nook, dining room).

I can't draw this right now, but what about removing the wall between the kitching and the dining room. take the cabinets on the wall and mover them to the exterior wall (move slider to deck down to the left more) eliminating the "hallway" along that exterior wall and moving it to the area between the kitchen and dining room. At the end of that hallway, to the right and left, can be powder room and laundry room. Then your dining room is more open to the kitchen and you haven't needed to expand anything.

AND- 12x13' dining room is very small... this would allow you to expand into that "hallway" space for larger holiday gatherings.

Does that make sense?

Two islands as pictured in the plan leaves the second island useless, and it's an expensive element to have it be useless. The cook or the cleaner will never go to that second island because there's no reason to; its too far from any appliance and you have to walk around the first island to get there. Guests won't sit or hang out at the second island because it's too far from the cook. The second island also further cramps your living space because it needs at least 3 ft aisles all around. It's the first thing I would change in this house. Make the main island wider (maybe) and then place a sofa table behind a loveseat in that location and that will provide enough separation.

Maybe your plans can include not being able to see the bathroom from the rest of the house.

Notice in the family room that the fireplace is right next to the doorway, making it hard to place furniture.

ive seen pictures of the island with cabinets that divides your kitchen from the family room. They look great! I love the look! I think they work especially well when the space is large and the division makes is cozier, or to divide a kitchen from the only dining area.

@emilyam819 That is a 2nd island in the kitchen. It is storage with columns that go up to cabinets at top with glass doors. My wife really liked that because she felt it gave some division between the kitchen and living room.

There are better ways to separate living area from kitchen areas.

@Brian's We don't really need all 4. The one we would eliminate if it came to it would be the formal living room. The dining room is a must as we plan to host many holiday's.

So you're taking a stock plan and trying to completely change it vs taking styles of houses you like to an architect or design professional and having them work closely with you to design a house that fits you and your wife's needs.

The dormers are not skylights, they go to the attic.

So what you're saying is they are just for looks since most houses are built with trusses nowadays and attics are not usable.

The garage is so prominent in the front of the house in a lot of them.

It looks quite prominent in the photo of the house above too since it's a front gable unlike the rest of the house. It's the first thing you see. So you didn't solve the problem your wife wanted to solve.

Also Doc is correct. A 12' x 13' dining room is very small.

Where are you building? Do you have your lot yet? What is the orientation of the house?

@cpartist

I was looking to see if it would be possible to customize some things in this plan to bring it close to what we want but I have realized it is best to start from scratch with an architect.

I should have explained the garage better. On the few houses we looked at in person with side loaders the garage took up a lot of the front elevation and was pushed rather forward from the rest of the house where it looked very prominent. I can't post a picture right now of one of the houses we looked at.

Jillius,

That is very helpful. Thank you for posting all of that! I am going to show your post to my wife and ask her to do what you suggested.

I kinda like the two islands. I have that set up in my own house, and since I work out of that house, all clients see the kitchen and it's been duplicated on several occasions.

It's far from "useless". We use ours all the time. It's a great place for a beverage fridge and we have the charging station there. Guests are always sitting there and they're not in the way. During some parties, that's where the bartender is.

Accent the whole thing with nice pendant lights and maybe well thought out columns under a bulkhead.

And in use during a party:

Client kitchen were we basically duplicated mine with a beverage fridge in there too and shelving on the end but a different way to seat folks.

ARG, I agree that yours is more useful than on the plan because of the bar sink and beverage fridge.

I agree Emily. It has to be thought out to maximize usefulness. Interestingly, I have four houses posted in an "Ideabook" (for a different reason) but three out of the four have a two island kitchen!

And our beverage fridge was Mrs. Architectrunnerguy's idea and I LOVE that! And it makes for so much more room in the regular fridge.

FWIW, my DW loves the 2 island plans. She has been in a couple houses with them and it will likely make it into our eventual house. The buffet setup is a huge benefit with entertaining.