Ooh! I love a good floorplan rework! I err on the side of doing less work, so I'm not going to suggest major moves, but I do think your living room should have more than one exit/entry. Otherwise I think it will be a dead space/never used. Perhaps a 2nd door over by the stairs, or opening up that small closet to make an exit at the back of the living room.

I really recommend living in the home for a full year before making changes. We have bought and sold several homes, and it is amazing how changes I am certain I am going to make when I first buy the home end up changing once I actually live there and see how we use the space. It is such a valuable lesson and can save a lot of heartache!

It's not going to be possible to meet all your demands. There is only so much space in each area.

• You may have to settle for a range with two ovens below.
• No room for a prep sink
• You can't take away any of the cabinets next to the fridge for ovens because you will need the cabinets for pantry items.
• As it is, I think you will have to supplement your storage with some type of large cabinet in the dinette area to just store dishes and small appliances.
• You can take away the wall that divides the Family Rm from the kitchen and add an over-hanging countertop with barstools.
• Be happy that you have a dinette and a dining room. Many don't have even that
• The only area you have for a mud area is the back door. You'll get a few hooks on the wall but that's about it for space.
• Select a dining table that expands to seat more people. There is room for an 84 inch buffet on the narrow wall.
• I doubled the size of your closet in the entry
• Your actual Living Room could be turned into an office.

+1 on living there for a while, especially understanding how you use the outdoors.

jbmail thanks for your feedback. I totally agree with you that adding another entry point to the living room will help the flow.

We were thinking of opening it through where I marked in orange.

Thanks again for any other ideas and thoughts you have!

Thanks isabellagracepan for the suggestion.

However we‘re living in a rental apartment temporarily in the interim between selling our previous house and closing on our new house, and will continue to stay in the rental during the renovation before we move into the house.

This is how we did it too when we renovated our previous house, and it was a whole lot easier to live elsewhere during a renovation.

So unfortunately living there first isn’t an option. So I’m planning the renovation based on knowledge of how we use a space in this temporary apartment and in our previous 2 homes.

BeverlyFLADeziner

thanks for your feedback and attached layout!

I just wanted to clarify regarding the kitchen, we’re completely gut renovating it. We’re not working within the confines of the current layout and cabinet space.

The only confines we’re working within is the exterior footprint of the house because we won’t be doing an addition.

Within the house, anything can be re-jigged.

Love the bigger entryway closet!

3onthetree

Thanks so much for your feedback!

as I explained above to isabellagracepan, the renovation will happen prior to moving in because we’re already in a temporary apartment and don’t want to live in the house with the dust etc created during a renovation.

I agree with you entirely about seeing how we use the outside space.

i love what you did about bumping a mudroom next to the garage! We’re seriously considering that.

It’s tough bc we’re trying to balance living space vs more utilitarian spaces that are practical.

For example, we have no need for an informal tv family room plus an entire room used for a formal living room.

I wanted to clarify something on the floorplan that I realized wasnt on it from the listing

green is the location of the laundry, side by side washer and dryer

Purple is a full bathroom for the downstairs level. Vanity, toilet and shower.

I was thinking since there’s currently a living room and family room, i could make 1 our tv watching space and the other a combo of dining room and small seating area (a couple of armchairs) that could be easily moved when entertaining a larger crowd.

Thanks again for your help!

If you put Dining into the old Living, then the Kitchen wants to move over with it. That leaves the Family room unconnected. Having only one Great Room doesn't appear to work well with this house, as when you do have one you want direct/visual access from the Entry, Kitchen, and Dining. This footprint is a little small, especially to fit in an island. The structure may play in how you lay out your re-arrangement as well, 2 probable scenarios where typical 2x10 joists are kept around 12'-14' spans: