Run a hallway down the centerStarting where it is behind fireplace and turn corner and connect to bit of hall by master room. Close up the second door in the middle bedroom . Isn’t one entrance to that bedroom enough? Up by the bathroom w tub? Hallway which closes the smaller bedroom off w entrance off hallway does make the room smaller but still okay . Not every 3 bedroom even has a master set up like that So one smallish bedroom is not a deal breaker. Strong point is ranch / single floor home . Then go back to kitchen zone w ideas of opening kitchen to dining area / wall may be load bearing but closing kitchen to hall passage and opening kitchen to dining space is long term likely the best. No I wouldn’t try right now to change or cut into master bath / expensive and it’s got options for tweaks w space allotted and master suite is a strong point.

My first question is how many bedrooms do you need. If three then that whole wing of the house needs to be reworked . That would be my 1 st item of business . IMO a 2 BR /2Bath house for a couple is perfect so a lot depends on your area and what makes up the people who live there. I would plan on removing the wall from the kitchen to DR that will allow a really nice galley type kitchen once that bathroom is incorporated into the bedroom wing. This will need money to do right so be prepared for that. What will happen with a rework of the bedroom wing is the master can have a huge closet the bathrooms will be back to back so plumbing should not be ahuge issue . The 2nd bath is now gone and that opens up all kinds of possibilities for the kitchen.

We sold a house in the innner city where 3 BRS were not a nessessitity but a master suite was so we converted the whole 1/2 storey to a master suite and office space put a guest room in the basement , this was a tiny house 6000sq ft on the main floor it sold in 11 days at over asking becuase we renovated for the area .

It seems the easiest thing to tweak the bedrooms would be to run a hallway to connect to the existing path to the master, but that would make that bedroom 7'10" wide which seems like it might be too narrow for a bedroom.

Patricia, I only need 2 BR for my purposes and agree that it works for couples and to then use one room as a passthrough den/office. The area has a lot of families and so I was thinking of future resale value for making it a true 3 BR. With a rework of the BR wing, I'm not sure I follow where the bathrooms will be back to back. You're suggesting removing the current bath by the kitchen and incorporating it into a a larger galley kitchen right? That would be great but I'm worried about the costs of creating a new bathroom.

So far there are two votes for opening up the kitchen to the dining room which is also useful. Thank you, you've both given me other options to think about!

herbflavor's idea seems to me to be a good one. I really think NO pass through bedrooms is the best idea, since even if the 3rd one is small, it could be used as a nursery or office, as well as a small, but long single bed bedroom.

When my young grandchildren and daughter were living with us, we had the boy's single bed in a nook in the bonus room. But you had to go through part of the bonus room to get to another bedroom. By the time he was 10, we'd rigged up a closet that partially blocked his bedroom area, but if he'd been older, he'd have been unhappy with no privacy.

Anne

Thanks, Anne! Herbflavor's idea would involve the least amount of work which is a big plus. I'm a little worried that the hallway would be too long since it's already about 11.5 ft and this would add another 9 ft. and it's only 38" wide, but a long hallway seems hard to avoid considering the location of the master and the shape of the house.

I don't know what the front windows look like, but it seems like you could make the Dining room into a bedroom (you should still be able to have an 8x10 bedroom after carving out a closet) and make the bedroom closest to the kitchen into a DR, closing off the entrance to the lower BR by the fireplace. That blows expanding the kitchen into the DR out of the water. But, you'll have closed off the entrance from the kitchen into the current DR, which opens up some new options.

Wow cawaps, I never would have thought of that but it's super interesting!! I prefer not to have bedrooms at the front of the house but I think as long as it's not a master bedrooms at the front can work well as an office/guest room or true bedroom if needed. The current middle bedroom already has French doors leading to the backyard, and that could really open up some alternate space for the kitchen. That would also mean not having as long of a narrow hallway to get to the master and if I can avoid having to move or create bathrooms that would be great since I assume that's more expensive than opening up some walls, but I have no experience so that's just a guess!

I'm having major buyer's remorse, I hope it goes away once I move in. I feel stupid for having bought a house with two layout issues that also needs updating. I paid too much for the house and feel very limited in what work I can do. I'm hoping to figure out what changes would be most important to future buyers. I know most houses have something wrong with them, I just need to choose one thing to fix.

3 bedroom 2 bath is much greater value than typical 3 bedroom 1 bath or 1.5 bath. Can’t comment on your investment but the house would sell in a hot minute here. If you are truly unhappy do nothing / decorate / paint a bit and wait a year / or sell in 18 mo. Probably wise to put your things in / freshen and clean and make the main areas work for you ...then think abt kitchen/ dining . Bedroom wing is zone I’d be less concerned with because people use 3rd bedroom in non bedroom ways the master has good separation altho you note a hall length but some would consider that a plus. I’d be encouraged because left lower side of living room w the little alcove could hold a small dining table so my thoughts would be kitchen / what to do w seating venues / options for use of space between kitchen and dining room. Certainly no work till 6 mo living there or more. Save and imagine and plan.

This would be a huge project - can the hall bath be moved to the middle bedroom to open more workable space in the kitchen?. You'd lose a bedroom but reroute traffic to the master and reroute traffic around the smaller bedroom.

tdemonti, the hall bath could be moved but that would be a larger project than I think I can afford if I want to do any work to the kitchen. I think the kitchen is most in need of updating if I'm thinking about resale. I'd also prefer not to lose a bedroom. I think the floor plan is already a 2BR/2BA plus den or a 3BR/2BA where one BR is a nursery. The people that used to rent the house used the middle bedroom as a nursery and the east bedroom as an office, but it could be vice versa.

herbflavor, thanks for the calming words. I was rushing to meet with contractors but then realized my budget wouldn't take me very far and that I need to live in the space to feel out what really needs to be done. Do you think the kitchen might work as a galley kitchen open to the dining room? It wouldn't be a true galley kitchen because I can't really afford to move/reconfigure the bathroom, so the right side of it would be a very short wall. The other option is opening up the wall halfway but I don't know where I'd put the gas range. It seems like there would be poor ventilation to not have a venting hood, and having one would be visually cluttered.

Can you recess a 6" pantry INTO the wall where the present pantry is, turn the fridge so it faces the sink counter, put a tall pullout pantry to the left of the fridge, and add a base and upper cabinet next to the range and angle the corner base cabinet about 12"? Without exact measurements it's difficult to know if this would work, although it wouldn't be ideal.

You also could close off the 2nd door to the 11'4" bedroom and put a closet facing the MBR hall.

Anne

This layout is quite the puzzle! The real sticking point seems to be the second bathroom - its placement is just so awkward, and there is so much wasted space around its doorway/the doorway to the bedroom/the chimney. I know your budget isn't huge, but if it were possible to move that bathroom so that it backs up to your master bath (possibly stealing some space from the master), you'd gain a TON of space for the kitchen, and by converting the current DR to a bedroom you'd eliminate the walkthrough bedroom problem without adding a long hallway. Like this (obviously you'd be able to configure the kitchen however you wanted, this is just to show the new spaces):

Why do you need the kitchen pass into the hallway. Leave the space designated as dining room and even with that opening or widening kitchen to dining room opening ...go from kitchen thru dining room passage and immediate turn you are right there at juncture to either liv room or on to hallway and bedrooms. When you close off kitchen to hall passage you have a couple jogs in wall on kitchen side (great ) that can be interesting as you formulate a plan for it. Start w an approach for the opening between kitchen and dining room .., re position/ widen/ centered / removal ? Which do you fancy? . you can have a wonderful all yours kind of space and you don’t need to do all that much if you ask me. Halls ? Use for art.

Hi Anne, I don't think I can recess the pantry without removing the way to get into the hall bath off a public space. My agent suggested demoing the pantry which is quite narrow and not very useful, adding cabinet space next to the range, including the current opening to the dining room. Then move the doorway to the kitchen on the right to where the pantry is now. Just wondering how much that will improve the current cramped layout. I think you're right about turning the refrigerator to face the sink counter.

Sorry, I added a picture with measurements but realize everything is way too small to see.

blondeaninoma, yes I knew the second bathroom was in an awkward place but I didn't realize how hard it would be to fix! The home buying process is so fast once you have an offer accepted, it's my fault for rushing into it. The master bedroom and bath do have space to spare, and i see that having the bathrooms back to back would be easier for plumbing. But do you think the dining room being down a hallway from the kitchen is too removed?

The wasted space by the fireplace could be a good place to put a bathroom, the closet to the middle bedroom could be turned into a hallway because it's 3 feet deep. I don't know if I could get a contractor out to just look and give me their opinion as to what the cheapest way to fix at least some of the layout would be.

herbflavor, when you say jogs in wall on kitchen side I'm not sure what you mean. I can picture closing off the kitchen to hall passage, and widening the opening between the kitchen and dining so the kitchen stops at the range. Then perhaps some cabinets/countertop on the wall that has been closed up? I don't know if I can do anything with the space by the back door, but currently there is an old, narrow depth set of pantry cabinets that I thought could be replaced with a countertop and cabinets, removing the short divider wall from the kitchen so it could be a very long countertop. That back space is pretty narrow though so I don't know how useful it would be.

No need to beat yourself up over this - the house is livable as it is and I'm sure it will be a fabulous home for you! I agree that having the dining room removed from the kitchen by a hallway is not ideal, but IMO it is better than having a walk-through third bedroom. Maybe something like this would make the kitchen and dining feel less removed from each other?

Thanks blondaonima, that does make it feel less removed. What would you think if your design was slightly tweaked so that the dining and middle bedroom were switched? I had been considering that possibility, although your suggestion seems like a more natural area to walkthrough to get to the master suite and other bath.

It's hard to stop beating myself up over it but I think I'm just feeling super anxious and overwhelmed. Should be better once I take steps like removing the old dirty carpet from the master bedroom and putting down hardwood before I move in.

The problem with switching the dining and middle bedroom is that you still end up with a walk-through room in the center of the house. IMO it can't be considered a true third bedroom that way, and even if you plan to use it as an office, if you are going to go through the expense of a renovation, it really makes the most sense to give yourself the true third bedroom for resale purposes. You could achieve that with an additional hallway, but that would make that bedroom extremely narrow as you mentioned. We have one 8x14 bedroom in our home, and it works for us as an office but would be tight for an adult bedroom (anything more than a twin bed basically takes up the entire room).

biondanonima (sorry I kept misspelling this!), I wanted to ask what program you used to mark up the floor plan? I've tried several and none of them were intuitive enough for me to get the hang of. Thank you!

What about if the current dining room becomes an office/guest BR, the 11'4 bedroom stays a bedroom and then the middle bedroom becomes a dining room? Then it would be a public space so pass through would be ok. Then the 11'4 bedroom wouldn't have to be 8' wide and a closet could be made in the hallway between the dining room in the middle and the new bathroom adjacent?

@deecee9, I use PowerPoint to play around with layouts - it's not fancy but it is very easy to make little boxes to represent appliances, etc. and move them around! I just copied and pasted your original floor plan onto a slide and started adding shapes. Anyway, I'm not quite sure what you mean by your last suggestion - something like this (I might be missing a hall or doorway somewhere)?

I would like to put the bathroom in the middle like that but I'm guessing it would be more expensive than putting it back to back with the existing master. I meant if you looked at the markup you made before that where the kitchen is open to the dining room going straight across, what if you switched the dining and east bedroom there? So in your picture the dining room to the right would be a walled off bedroom and then the center of the house would be a dining room.

Oh, I see what you meant - like this:

The issue with that is the bedroom ends up being VERY small, because you will need to steal space from it for the bath and you need a closet. I'm guessing you'd end up with 11x7 once you take the space you need for the bath. A dining room doesn't need a closet so I think it works better there if you decide to move the bath.

If you decide not to move the bath, you could do the following. Unfortunately, it would leave the entrance to the bath in the kitchen, which is definitely not ideal, but at least the kitchen would become more functional.

Yeah, 11 x 7 would be even smaller than running a hallway through the room.

I can't figure out where the door would go or how I'd need to reconfigure the tub/toilet/sink in your second markup but I do like saving a ton of money not having to move a bathroom. Thank you for the suggestions!

@deecee9 My living room is the same size as yours. We had a full size formal dining table and China cabinet at one end. Do you need a "dining room"?

@tdemonti I don't really need a formal dining room at least for 95% of the time. When I lived in a 1BR apartment before I used the dining room as an office and ate most of my meals at the coffee table! And some at a small bar height counter I had. I do want to have an actual dining table in the house but I don't entertain often. The way the front door to my living room is centered makes it so that I think I could fit a small dining table in the left nook. Is that where you were going?

Yes.

We rarely used our DR table so we sold it and bought 2 folding tables and chairs to bring out on occasion.

@tdemonti this is is so basic but I didn't even realize I could @ people to reply to them, haha. Thank you for showing me the way. This is my first Houzz post and people have been super nice and helpful.

I think the “walkthrough bedroom” is perfect for a home office, which actually I think will become more important to ppl in the future, and it’s perfectly tucked away. I agree w above, enjoy the house. Wait and see how it works for you before you spend major money. You may want to do some tweaks in kitchen, concentrate on having that function well. My last house I put a wall of tall storage cabinets in my office that held a ton of stuff including rarely used kitchen stuff, maybe do something like that in the “office” and get the cabinet out of the kitchen so it’s not so cramped?

@deecee9 its a great site. I browse often even when I have no project. You never know what you'll learn, or when the next project will happen. I was thinking the kitchen could be extended to the DR if yiou want to go that direction.

I agree to live here for a while . Use the house and seeow you adjust. I always thought humans are most adaptable ; )

@deecee9

I don't think your renovation is purely HGTV motivated. Having a 3 bed house is more valuable than 2 and you're renovating a bad remodel. Someone stuck on a master suite to rack in some money without considering the layout, at all.

I liked the idea of turning the one bedroom into the dining and went with that. There's minimal structural change. Maybe requiring only one support beam. It all depends on which one of those walls are load bearing. This also puts the new kitchen sink and a wall that already has plumbing. If your stove is gas, that's gonna be a big cost, but if electric not as expensive.

Something to think about. Good luck!

ETA: Installing a banquet or bench seating in the corner would let you have more countertop on both the range and sink side. Your living room is large enough to have formal dining all the time or temp dining for parties while being a good distance from the kitchen.

@remodeling1840 Thank you for these wise words. I know this is what I should do, I'm just panicking because I spent way more than I originally planned and the house still needs work, even if I was't going to do any layout changes or kitchen updating. I just spoke to some friends about this, I know this isn't important in the big scheme of things. And I'm really looking forward to the day when I can have friends over who I'm sure will say the house is great.

@Miss TKO 2015 I uploaded pictures of the two bedrooms - the one in the middle has the French doors. Is that the one you think would make a good office or the other one? The other one is darker and more tucked away - I think it would make a good office or den. But since I spend so much time working, it might be nice to put my office in the other room which has a lot of light and where I have a view of the backyard.

@User Thanks for the suggestions! In your markup is the kitchen now relocated to the middle room/dining room? It looks like the sink and range are in there. I uploaded a pic of that room which has French doors to the outside. I think the wall by the fireplace running east west is a load bearing wall.

Can I ask what software you used to markup the floor plan? I've been tracing over the original floor plan and just penciling things in, but I'm just guessing at measurements for the different scenarios

Yes, I moved the kitchen to the middle where the french door bedroom-turned dining room's closet and doorway were. Turned the dining room into a bedroom, relocated the bathroom door and your current kitchen could be storage, extra freezer, mudroom. (I just left the sink and fridge there)

I used Microsoft paint and drew/copy/pasted from what you posted.