I am remodeling the 1FL and primary bathroom spaces in my townhome. HOA rules specify no changes to exterior walls or interior structural walls. The primary objectives of the floorplan revisions are to:

• Move the powder room entrance so it's not opening into the kitchen/main living space
• Create a clear 'drop zone' to keep coats, shoes neat (there's no foyer area or coat closet)
• Add living room space and improve flow by reducing the fireplace footprint and moving the bar seating into the Kitchen area

Figure 1: Current Floor Plan

• Red line - load bearing wall
• Blue line - electrical panel

On Figure 2 below, we have an Island floorplan which achieves the objectives.

Figure 2: Island Floor plan

Challenges:

• Can't put the PR door through a cased opening and modifying the structural supports in the ceiling is major surgery (expensive).
• Moving the PR door to the left means relocating the electrical panel (also expensive).

Plus, while I love the island idea, having it in the very center of the open floor plan may make the house seem like all kitchen; and entering the home facing the working side of the island isn't ideal.

Figure 3: Pinched U + Privacy walls

I could eliminate the bar seating altogether but I wanted to try and keep it. If we pinched the 'U' and relocated the oven to the opposite (new) wall (so it's not colliding with the DW), that could allow for the bar seating to stay inside that wing wall. Adding some privacy walls around the existing PR door in the Drop Zone gives a cubby for wall hooks that aren't in view of the living space (nice); while providing some privacy in/out of the bathroom, but is it too bulky?

Figure 3 seems to be the least invasive but there is a pinch-point getting into the K. I could reduce the privacy wall (wall oven wall) a bit to allow for at least 40" of walkway in/out of the K.

Is there another option we haven't thought of? What would you do?