All,

I have posted here a few times, but wanted to get feedback from you guys one more time as I prepare to remodel my tri-level ranch. I have a contractor and architect lined up with plans in the works. I have already determined the cost of each respective alternative. I purely want y’all’s opinion from a design/flow perspective.

I’ve posted a picture that I found online that roughly shows my current floor plan. Mine is similar to this, with the exception being that my living room is actually longer, and the dining room shorter.

Option A:
Move kitchen to existing dining space with cabinet wall along garage space to have ovens, cooktop, refrigerator, and pantry. I would put an Island with a sink in it and bar seating across from that (around where the existing living room/dining room and kitchen/den walls are). I would also Eliminate the wall between existing living/family rooms. I would Use living as new dining room and keep den where it is (that’s really the only “have to” as the fireplace is along the rear wall in that room). I would put storage space and a wet bar along the rear wall of the existing kitchen, creating a longer, open kitchen/bar space. This would make the existing den about 1-2’ longer.

My concern with this plan is whether or not the extra space from removing the wall between the 11’ deep family room and the 14’ deep existing living room (so ~25’ deep when combined) will allow room for a sectional as well as the dining room table. I think the answer here is yes, but it’s hard to visualize without seeing it in person.

Obviously, the pro for me here is the larger kitchen. I love to entertain, and have found that people often congregate in the kitchen area. Having a large island, plenty of cooking area, and a spacious bar area is extremely appealing to me as large groups will be able to gather here.

Option B: remove existing wall between living/family rooms to create one long family room with room for a sectional and another seating area along the window in the front of the house. Keep existing kitchen footprint and rework to have island with a cooktop in it. Open up doorway between kitchen and dining and leave dining room in existing space.

Thoughts:
Again, having a big kitchen with all of the appliances and space I could ever want is a huge plus for me as I love to cook and entertain. But I also don’t want the rest of the house to feel cramped. The existing living room is always empty when I entertain, with people choosing to cram themselves into my den, so I figure that with the wall out, I’ll still have a much larger living space anyways and room for my dining room table. That said, the thought of having a cavernous living room with multiple seating options is attractive as well.

What’s more important - the bigger kitchen or the bigger living room?

See attached for the following:
- a rough sketch of my floor plan
- a picture of a neighbors house just like mine that chose to leave kitchen in same footprint (mine would extend into dining area under Option A)
- a picture of my existing den space
- a picture of my existing living and dining room spaces