The proposed plan would certainly fit my life better than what you have currently but you don't like it. What were you trying to accomplish with this renovation?

Which proposed plan do you prefer? We are trying to open up some walls and let the light come in from the front of the house. Also to update our current 1970s kitchen.

B-1

Do you mind sharing why?

You're doing a pretty substantial reno, almost to the point where you start thinking it'd be better to demo the house and build a new one entirely!

I also don't like the proposed arrangement by your designers because you now effectively have two family rooms rather than one - both open to the kitchen. The proposed kitchen space would be directly adjacent to the old formal living room, which will make that area the default new family room, but you still have the original family room open to the kitchen!

Working with the constraints of your existing floor plan, I would make the current formal living room the new formal dining room, which can also double as a workspace for kids homework or even a second home office if needed. IT would be sacrificing a formal living room outright, but you'd get a slightly bigger family room area. My preference is for a formal dining room over a formal living room. Ideally there'd be a big playroom in the basement for the kids so the family room can also double as a grown-up entertainment area when needed and the kids kicked downstairs.

Yes thank you! We’ve also thought about tearing down but it’s too expensive. I wish we could! I should have mentioned that the formal living room is our favorite room in the house and it’s also the largest room so we don’t want to make it a dining room because it would largely go unused.

Do you all eat family dinners at the dining table or would it only be for guests?

I would like a space where we can eat as a family (of 5) and was planning to put a smaller table in the “den/ sitting room “ area

If you plan on having another table in the den/sitting area then would your family walk past one table to get to another table?

Our DR is in the center of our house off our kitchen and I love it (great for family meals, homework, puzzles etc.) - it is totally a gathering spot - super comfy upholstered chairs help (we put grey towels down on the velvet when my boys were little)

If the main reason you want a separate dining room is to accommodate a smaller, more casual dining space, I'd go with Plan B-1. The dining area is much more flexible for adapting to your dining needs - using a table with leaves can be kept smaller until you entertain, then expanded for guests. If you need overflow seating, the dining table is close enough to the counter seating so people aren't in separate rooms. The dining room in Plan B-B looks to be limited to six chairs in a space about 13' x 13', overflow seating would be in a separate room.

if you added a six top in either the sitting room or screened in porch. Plan B-1 would provide dining for 18+, Plan B-B would provide dining for 16.

I like a lot of things about Plan B-B. I love having my dining room have pretty open communication with the living room. It makes it easy to entertain when people can flow easily between a dining table and more casual seating. Your kitchen is walled off enough from the dining room that you can relax with company, not see the dishes. But close enough that you can easily bring food out for casual family meals. If you have kids, it's great to have a family room separate from the living room, so you can have two different activities/acoustic zones going on.

What I don't understand about Plan B-B is the enormous foyer. It seems very disproportionate to the floor. Why not keep the same office/staircase/small foyer layout?

I have open concept and I detest it. No privacy. All the mess from cooking on display all the time. I don't like the term "dated", but open concept is dated. It is for a cheap apartment.

Thank you! I’m not sure why the foyer looks so big in plan B-B but it is the same size/footprint as our current layout. Thank you for your points re: kids etc. That’s exactly why I wanted to keep two areas of living/family space so my husband and I can escape the kids while they watch a show.

Yep. The best thing we EVER did in our house was add doors back to the kitchen and TV room, where previous owners removed them. Enclosed rooms saved our sanity during the quarantine.

Plan B-1 puts the range/cooktop on an outside wall, which makes for more efficient ventilation. What is the ventilation plan for Plan B-B?

I’m not sure but it would be a vent that probably goes out to the back of our house ?

The great part about B-1 (besides ventilation) is the way your living/dining space open to the patio. It's nice to have the "entertaining" rooms face your outdoor space. Could you get the best of all worlds by putting a partial wall between the B1 kitchen and dining space? Your built-in storage could go on that wall, to make the living & dining rooms more open to each other.