Hi Anglophilia, yes I agree not totally sitting well with me either, which brings me here! The guest bathroom is separate from the powder in the mudroom (can see the tub cutoff in the top of the photo), this one is more for quick access from outside work. I hadn't though about the downside of having a bathroom window next to the front door. I'll keep this in mind, thank you!

I dislike entries on the sides of houses, so I'd have to immediately veto Option #2. I can't tell what the sight line is, from the entry, in Option #1, but I'm assuming it's better than Option #2, which is also a strike against the second one.

If you'd like a coat closet, change the swing of the entry door so that it opens the other way (mirror-image the entire door/sidelight), and put a closet under the stairs. :-)

Hi One D.D. Sight line in option 1 from the door to the top of the frame would be through dining to living room to south facing windows, so better than option 2 like you said. I should mention the stairs are to the basement, so would be closing in an open space in option 1 if I added a closet where the half wall will be, but still an option! Thank you.

Option 1, but flip the door-sidelight unit to that the door hinges on the right. When you open the door, the view is of nice artwork on the wall by the stair, and through the stair railing to the dining and living beyond; not a view of the mudroom.

Option 1 feels more natural to me, but living in a cold climate I like the coat closet as you walk in. If you do, do #2 I would keep the stairs compact like you have in #1 and use the extra space in that little sitting area.

What does the rest of the plan look like? I ask because as ODD said there are sight lines to consider. It appears with 1 you look into the kitchen?

Also how large is your site?

I prefer #1. I'm also from rural SK and would appreciate having the front door being close/adjacent to the mudroom for coat and boot storage. I don't think that you would feel too close to the dining room.

I would move the bed to the other side with option#1. Is there going to be a walk with the groceries from the garage?

Think about how the door will be protected from those gentle warm breezes in January up there in SK.

Hi all sorry for the delay in my reply! Thank you all very much for your input, sure made me think lots! We decided on Option 1. Keeping the door swing the way it is to promote natural flow from entrance to mudroom with coats, will also have some hooks by the door. Will likely add a small bulkhead between the entrance and dining room to create a feel of separation. The door is blocked nicely from our prevailing west wind by the garage (if the plan were a map, it would be upside down - north is at the bottom). I've also had some mixed feelings about not having the mudroom joined to my pantry and kitchen on the same side of the house, the concern being distance with groceries. For anyone who was curious, this is the full plan, the driveway comes up around the left side where the yellow line is, so this is why we've opted to have the 'public' rooms on this side of the house and the 'private' bedroom side on the back. That, and the views to the top and left of the page are quite nice so we've tried to orient our living spaces to face them. Thank you all for your input.

Does your master bedroom have windows?

Whoops I should have said this was before we'd done all window placements, some windows are shown, some are not. Keen eye!