The kitchen plan needs some work especially at the awkward counter to the right of the stove at the door to the large but inefficient panty.

If the stairs only go up or down they can be improved by making the runs unequal.

You will benefit greatly by getting a local architect involved. There are many inefficiencies in your plan and a local architect could save you money.

CLC, we will keep that in mind, we planned to use the island to seat 3-4 people at times and want to make sure its big enough for that.

JDS, The plan will be to expand that counter around 2 feet to make it more usable and then make the pantry a bit longer. The space is 5 feet wide and we were planning on shelves running the length with a fridge at one end and a counter at the other.

Mark, Thanks for that tip, do you mean inefficiencies in spaces or in the cost of materials due to things not being optimized. Early in this process we met with an architect. Either she did not convince us enough that we would benefit from her services or the builders did a good job convincing us we didn't need an architect. Either way we decided to not hire an architect. We are pretty far along in the process but are still open to all options

Will there not be a refrigerator in the kitchen proper, then?

Will the broom, floor and dust mop and cleaning supplies also be kept in the pantry, or will they be somewhere else?

Plan to have 2 one in the pantry and one in the kitchen.

cleaning supplies likely in the pantry.

Will you need added ventilation in the pantry? Will that refrigerator have an ice maker?

Not sure on ventilation and I doubt it would have an ice maker. it will just be a cheaper fridge for items we don't use every day.

We are putting an all fridge unit in our pantry and the builder is putting in a fan (to be run several hours a day) and including a pocket door so the space will be mostly open. Definitely want to consider ventilation with an always running appliance.

Spacial inefficiencies. Too much dedicated circulation space and spaces not sized for the function they serve. Talk to several architects to find one that fits. Some builders do not like to work with architects because they can be less accountable, they are not looking out for your best interest. I've never heard of someone taking a Yugo for a test drive, then saying "Nope, cars are not for me".

The pantry is not wide enough to be of much use and if it gets any longer it should have a door at the other end.

Is the empty space when you enter from the garage a mudroom space? If so, can it be seen down the hall when entering through the front door? It looks like a hallway to the right when you enter the house, which people will inevitably look down. I would hate for my current mudroom space to be what they see (shoes, coats, CRAP). Looks like they might have to walk through this space to use the powder room, but I may be looking at it incorrectly...still learning :-)

Mark, thanks for the info we will definitely reconsider using an architect. It was not a we don't like the Yugo now we don't need a car it was a someone showed us a bike now we don't think we need a car.

For the pantry we are considering cantilevering some space into the garage to widen the space. It would allow room for shelving on both sides. We are also looking into venting it. We thought about doors on both ends and may still make that change.

That is a hall that looks all the way down to the "mud room". You are right we may end up with a pile of crap there that is an eye sore but in our current house this is the case and we can live with it. There will be a closet and then a bench/locker on the front side of the hoise that will hopefully contain a lot of the crap.

Then the stairs thing, it's a 2 story house with a partially finished walkout basement.