Just a quick idea...

• Merge Kitchen & Dinette and eliminate a table in the former "Dinette" space (it's really too small anyway)
• Create door between Dining Room and Kitchen
• Open up to Family Room via a partial half-wall
• Kitchen wall that hides Kitchen from Foyer but does have a doors on the far side that lead to the Kitchen, Bedrooms, and Living Room
• Island seating in the Kitchen where children can do homework while you're prepping/cooking
• Peninsula seating between Living Room and Kitchen for another place for doing homework (or to separate the kids when they're arguing, yet they're all still nearby!)
• Shallow Pantry cabinets
• Dining Room used for meals and game nights

Would be dependent on measurements, of course!

What's to the right of the Foyer? Pantry? Entry? (I cannot read the label.)

[For perspective, the Laundry Room is to the left of the Foyer. I rotated the image 90 degrees so the Foyer is at the bottom and the Living Room is at the top.]

Thank you. To the right of the foyer is covers deck/entry. I will work on making drawings clearer with measurements.I also have a walk through video but cannot figure how to post it. There is a wall with pass through opening from kitchen to dining. We have a contractor coming today to determine if that wall us load bearing and what can be done with it. the wall separating kitchen and living is not load bearing as well.

The house is on stilts and currently not enclosed underneath.house is going to be repiped So plumbing can be moved. We are open to moving changing walls. not sure on appliances but would like a dbl wall oven.

When enter from foyer this is back wall of kitchen

to the right of this wall was a weird breakfast nook area

Here is kitchen

Straight ahead on other side of sink and dishwasher is family room,

to left is dining

here you can see pass through to dining

Current Dining

Family room

Family room

I can’t read that plan . BTW realtor pics are useless for giving an idea of the spaces.

So, using what I could read from the plan, this is what I thought might work...

This opens up your Kitchen to the Living Room -- but only partially so you don't have one big room. By only partially opening up the Living Room wall, you have a bit of separation between the Kitchen (and the noise/mess) and the Living Room.

Note how the doorway to the Kitchen from the hall/Foyer is offset so you're not looking straight into the Kitchen from the Foyer. This way, the Kitchen "mess" is not the first thing people see when they enter your home.

If the Living Room seating sticks too far out into the Living Room, then you can remove the curve and make it straight.

I also added a door to the Dining Room directly from the Kitchen...so much more useful than having to go out into the hall and then into the Dining Room!

I didn't see a Pantry, so I added over 7 feet of shallow pantry cabinets. 12" deep shelves are the "sweet spot" for functional pantry storage. Deep enough for cereal boxes, canned goods 3 or 4 cans deep, small appliances, etc. The cabinets are 13" deep, to account for the wall in the depth measurements and still have 12"-deep shelves.

NOTE: This is all based on the measurements I was able to figure out from the plan. Without ACTUAL measurements, we won't know for certain that it would work. See the how I got the measurements on the left and bottom walls plus the existing doorway to the children's bedrooms.

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With a prep sink in the island, you have two primary Prep Zones. Direct water access is a KEY component of a successful/functional Prep Zone.

Thank you. this looks amazing. I have been so busy with work that I have not had a chance to make new drawings. I will review these and show to my husband. One thing we were differing on was coming into a wall when you enter kitchen from foyer. He wants no wall and to see all the way through from front door to family room. I like the idea of it being open however hate walking into mess as well. Another option we considered was making the dining room the kitchen and kitchen into dining space.

In your design the dining room is separate. And the kitchen is more central. In the one I just mentioned the kitchen is separate and dining room is more central. From a design standpoint is there one that is better.

Unless you keep your Kitchen immaculate at all times and rarely cook, I do not recommend having the Kitchen be the first thing guests see when they enter your home from the Foyer. Kitchens are working rooms. Yes, at the end of the day (b/f going to bed) they may be clean, but throughout the day, there will be prepping/cooking/eating "stuff" scattered around the Kitchen.

Put up a nice piece of art on that wall.

Or, maybe create an "art niche" in the wall, if that's something you like (some people do, some do not).

Another idea is a table with a mirror or something. Maybe a small basket for keys, etc.

.

Regarding switching the DR and Kitchen -- do you have a basement under the Dining Room? Or, are you on a slab? If on a slab, it can be very expensive to break into the slab to run plumbing. If you have a basement under the DR, it's not nearly as expensive. You will need to run water lines and drain lines, at the very least, under the old Dining Room/new Kitchen.

Another question...are you OK with the Kitchen sharing a wall with your Master Bedroom? (Noises go both ways...just saying!)

If you're OK with all of the above, then switching the two rooms is a definite possibility!

A definite pro for moving the Kitchen is that you will have direct access to the screened in porch from the Kitchen, assuming you use it for summer meals or entertaining.

The Dining Room appears a bit smaller, so you may want to incorporate some of the current Kitchen into the Dining Room.

Since one wall is only partly usable ( sliding door is taking up a lot of wall space), I don't recommend taking down the entire wall b/w the Dining Room and Kitchen, but most of it could be taken down.

You're fortunate in that your LR, DR, and Kitchen are not in a straight line -- you won't have a "bowling alley" effect if you open all three rooms up. It will also help cut down on the loud noises that can sometimes result when the three main public rooms are all open to each other.

One other thing to think about...with a screened in porch, the Dining Room is probably pretty dark. Are you OK with that in your Kitchen? Even opening the wall b/w the Dining Room and Kitchen won't help much b/c the current Kitchen is an interior room with no windows. The current Kitchen is probably dark as well. But, if you open the wall b/w the Living Room & Kitchen you can bring in the natural light from the Living Room.

Hmmm....looking at plan and pictures, I'm not sure there's all that much light in the Living Room either! Would you consider also putting in a window on the left side of the Fireplace to match the one that's on the right? That would bring in more natural light.

Lol I have been struggling with the L shape and thought it would be so much easier if everything was in a straight line. obviously I have no idea about design and this is quite challenging for me. I guess I just need to decide if I want kitchen or the dining room off to the side and separate from living area. My husband is adamant about one thing, which is being able to see to living room when he enter, he does not want a wall. We are in FL so we will use the deck quite a bit. It hard for me to visualize how the space will feel. Demo starts this week so hoping that when some walls come down it will help. The house is on pilings and the underneath is enclosed garage but not finished. The house has to be repiped as the plumbing is very old. So if we need to move plumbing now is the time to do it. Yes the house is very dark overall as the windows are small. We plan to add a window in the living room, either adjacent to fireplace or on adjacent wall between fireplace and slider. But that is not immediate as we need kitchen, baths and floors done first. I really appreciate your input. thank you

Before I go any further, could you please measure the Dining Room for me? This is what I think the dimensions are, but it's very difficult to read the plan the you posted (in some cases impossible) and what's on the plan isn't always reality. Post the actual measurements.

I gave each dimension a letter so you can easily reference the measurements.

Blue represents vertical measurements; red horizontal.

A =

B =

C =

D =

E =

F =

G =

H =

I =

While you're at it, could you please measure the current Kitchen as well?

Yes. I am off and will go to house today and measure.

I am going to re measure as our numbers don’t match.

Also wall between the living room and kitchen is gone. all cabinets are out. the wall between dining and kitchen is staying until we decide on plan.

A. 78”

B. 87”

C.

D.

E. 152”

F. 44”

G. 150”

H. 156

The numbers I posted came from the plan in your original post. But, as I mentioned, they were difficult to read so I may have mis-read them. Or, they don't reflect actual measurements.

When you re-measure, please get the measurements for the Kitchen space as well.

sorry for the delay. We have had a few issues with house. although I don’t want the kitchen right when I walk in, it seems that is where it is going unfortunately.

here is a drawing from our contractor.

when you enter from from foyer kitchen and will be on right, pantry on left.

the pantry on left will go to ceiling with remainder lower cabinets and open to dining room.

thus design has a cooktop and wall oven. I have always wanted this setup as it looks nice and separates cooking areas and don’t have to bend down to get things out of the oven, and double oven for to different temperatures. However it does not leave a spot for microwave and coffee maker.

my only option I feel is a free standing range instead.

this picture is with wall oven and cooktop.

I don’t have drawing with range option. in these pictures two Things are incorrect. 1. The wall between dining and kitchen next to pantry is gone. And where barstool are located are full depth cabinets.