I agree angled wall is bad but I don’t mind bathroom or bedroom location at all. Perhaps this is mostly an office that happens to have a closet. Great spot then. The bathroom is farther away from living areas so more private. Is this a new build?

Yes new build.
Yes it will mainly be an office, occasional guest.

Oh if it is a new build then you aren’t confined by anything and everything can and should change. I thought it was a remodel because of how you posted this. There is no reason for the angled entry nor the tight spaces for the dining, mud and pantry. There is no reason to create a tight spot for a back door either. These are all things one would suck up in a remodel but should elder happen in a new build. .

Redesigning is not an option but thank you for that input. The overall floorplan is what it is based on several factors. While I appreciate the direction, I am just trying to work with the kitchen/dining area. I wanted to avoid a small galley kitchen with garage traffic coming through, no sink in the island, window above sink. If there are better layouts than is proposed here I am open to suggestions.

Good luck on your project. Now is the time to pause and make a change. That can feel hard and unwanted when you have worked hard to get where you are but when plans are paper only it is the easiest time to make changes. When we built 8 years ago we probably went through 15-20 iterations before we really were confident and the main floor changed dramatically. I am so glad we really pushed for what we needed and wanted and didn’t settle.

"Yes it will mainly be an office, occasional guest."

A great bedroom for unwanted guests or guests you do not want to stay more than one night.

Why is redesigning not an option? I wish building a poor design was not an option.

I didn't ask about any other parts of the house. Whether you agree with the overall design is not what I am asking. I appreciate constructive responses so saying the floor plan is horrible does me no good. It also doesn't give me a solution to the problem I was addressing in this post. Thank you for taking the time and energy to provide no useful responses.

Everything is connected in a floor plan. One change impacts others but realizing this is just a piece of paper and not a remodel means you still have options, if you really want to take them. Good luck

"If there are better layouts than is proposed here I am open to suggestions."

Thank you Mark for providing some suggestions. Unfortunately this doesn't align wuth upstairs or the daylight basement which is why I mentioned it not being an option. While it may not be a good design to you all, it is what works for our needs and the lot we have. I will continue to ask for input on the kitchen, if there are changes that would be helpful to the space and the wants I listed previously.

Instead of windows in the great room have a big slider and extend your kitchen uk to area where the door currently is.

Change the upstairs to accommodate the better first floor plan.

A big slider in the living room will limit furniture layouts in the living room and the "deck" which looks like it might be a screened porch.

If construction has not started there is time to avoid the bad layout.

I disagree that a slider cuts off furniture placement. Easy enough to float things in a 19x19 box. Also I really think combining doors for pantry and mudroom would be good. Having only one way you get out will make less ins and outs on that wall. You could do this by having the garage go to mudroom and then there be a door through pantry to inside home. Many items likely can be dropped in pantry anyway from shopping so this makes sense. If the layout really can’t change then those are my useful suggestions as you put it

I am torn on whether the Kitchen should be at the exterior wall. Though whether I agree or not, I do understand your logic of how you arrived to this change.

I am looking at it from the perspective of the Great Room. I believe (the drawings are not fully noted) that you have a cathedral ceiling in the Great Room. It should feel "lightweight," open, and airy. The upper wall transitioning ceiling heights aligns with the stair as shown with the "dashed" lines.

So sitting on a couch, looking toward the right side is the Dining Room. It is "darker," with no direct sunlight, fairly empty in massing because of no anchors (just dainty table and chair legs). And even though there are many doors complicating what one expects in a Dining Room, and a cabinet counter, there are still enough wall planes to get the gist of a simple space. So it's not completely cave-like, but moreso a void of a "cove."

Then, still sitting on the couch looking to the left at the Kitchen, the windows support the concept of an open and airy space, but kitchens are "heavyweight" in massing with all the cabinets and few wall planes to see, and more dominating with all the shadows of cabinets/door style/hardware.

So this seems opposite of what it should be, regardless of the logic of deck access or Mudroom circulation. The human pysch likes an anchor behind them, and look out beyond, so in this layout, the concept of a kitchen looking out across the Dining to the exterior is more comfortable.

This concept may be beyond what you even realize, and you'd never know it doing the dishes, but it is a part of design and visualization of what feels comfortable when you lay out spaces. I suspect this is just a builder's plan and arm's length process, where an understanding of better design is probably no concern.

"I disagree that a slider cuts off furniture placement. Easy enough to float things in a 19x19 box."

Furniture layouts laid out to scale will tell all. The space may be 19/6 x 19/0, but to allow proper access to the sliding glass door on one side and the shelves on the other side the effective space for furniture is about 13/0 x 19/0.

“The human psych likes an anchor behind them, and lookout beyond... ”

@3onthetree - this sounds to me along the lines of Feng Shui type considerations (much of which boils down to nature and common sense).

I have not examined the intended house layout and all of the aspects involved- but your comment caught my eye.

And along the lines of Feng Shui thinking, I would also never design a house for myself nor advise any other to build a house where the furniture has no other option but to be floated.

I know you don't want to hear any criticisms of your plan, but your dining room is not really a useful room. It's more like a hallway or foyer, with four doorways to other areas/rooms in the house. This renders the useable area very tight. Imagine everyone sitting around the dining room table, and having to move when someone comes into the house via the mudroom, and then goes into to kitchen, or up the stairs, or into the great room.

Keep in mind that even though you asked about the kitchen, that room is connected to everything else on the first floor.

The best time to make changes in your plan is on paper, before construction begins. Then it's just a matter of pencils and erasers. Better to think it all out now, even if you need to delay the work, rather than rushing through it and being unhappy with the final result.

Is that supposed to be an endorsement???

freedomplace1- Are you kidding me? You are pulling political ads into a decorating forum?

I come here to get away from current politics. Here I need some peace. There's little enough peace everywhere else. I'm engaged on behalf of my isms elsewhere. Please keep these boards clean.

I am not the one who is ”pulling political ads into a decorating forum”... to suggest that I am is absurd.

My personal thoughts and political views are my own. My comment had nothing to do with politics.

Yet the powers-that-be have removed your post, freedomplace1. That's too bad, I didn't see any political views in your post--just because the designer is a politician doesn't indicate that you were politicizing. I took it as a comment on Feng Shui.

Thank you so much, Diana. 🙏🏼

Has my post actually been removed? I still see it. If it has been removed that is unbelievable... and pretty sad.

If you aren’t open to anything else but that back door issue then what Mark suggested is the best of all worlds. It really will allow more useable furniture space in the great room as well. You may end up saving money on windows too.

And, you could put the fridge in that new useable corner (with a pull out pantry/spacer on the far left to make the fridge door swing work). This is better overall for your appliance locations.

Yes, freedomplace1, it has been removed. I am sad too. But not surprised.

Who removed freedomplace1's comment?

Houzz I assume

Are they that stupid?

(I already know the answer)

The measurements are hard to read. Would this idea work for you.

Add a prep sink on the island.

Cleanup sink on the perimeter.

Yes, Houzz admin. Whenever anyone flags a comment, the admin people review it. If they see anything they don't like, then they remove it. The weird thing is that the person who originally posted it will usually see it and doesn't know it's been removed unless someone informs them. Why? Who knows???

Karen your layout makes a lot of sense. I like how there is a back hall. Good job!

And with Karen’s layout what was the coffee bar by the back entrance could be more closets and the closet that is off the entry could be a beverage bar? Worth considering….

I avoid a solid wall above a sink.

The whole home design is such a waste of money. Why would anyone would build something like that without taking the time to fix it??? It lives poorly, and has poor resale both. Dig a hole any buy a couple of hundred thousand and you'd be ahead.

Tranaslation: There may be better house designes out there for you.

Mark I agree with you about the sink but in this case with a prep sink in Karen’s layout you do get a sink that is ‘interactive’ with the view and people for prep activities.

This plan's concept works with the Dining at the exterior, where swapping the Kitchen there is an unnatural fit. But if it's good enough for the OP, so be it.

However if you wanted a better design where it was intentional, the Kitchen could be placed along the exterior, with many changes but keeping the strong attributes of the original concept intact. I would even go out on a limb and say other things associated with that change could result in a more efficient plan (ultimately leads to a more refined design and cheaper to build). As an example:

thinkdesignliveI agree with you about the ‘interactive’ with the view and people. Put both sinks in the island.

I am one for keeping the kitchen where it was.

But that still leave what I think is big problem at the front of the house.

Looks good Mark!

Mark - I can appreciate your design, but there are a few things I do not want; island sink, major traffic flow through my kitchen from the garage, I prefer my windows and light in my kitchen rather than dining(less time spent). This is south/southwest facing which gives me a ton of natural light and being that I have a 2 story wall of windows in my great room, it allows for lots of light into the dining room as well. I disagree with the front of the house issue. I would rather have someone poop at my front door than in my kitchen or dining room, regardless of which one was there, so we will have to agree to disagree on that one.

Then it sounds like 3onthetree's concept is a better solution for you.

Mark wasn’t suggesting that the bathroom move to the kitchen or dining area - just flipped with the stairs so that the guest bedroom on that level has more of an en-suite feel. A guest would have to cross the foyer in their pajamas (or less) to use the bathroom when getting ready or middle of the night. It’s a more private feel to have it situated close to the bedroom. I would caution you about direct south/southwest light as you actually may need to keep a blind closed if the sun is too strong which may defeat your purpose. Just a word of caution on both items.

Mark's idea for the front is so much better than what you have.

I was just informed my sister-in-law just bought a house being built in a development. I do not think they know what an architect does. If they ask me what they think of the house I am going to tell them the truth. This is their main entrance.

And to top it off their master closet is only accessible through their master bathroom.

Unfortunately most houses built in developments are based off a spec plan and so most changes are an additional cost, regardless of if it makes more sense. We have run into that with our build so we are picking and choosing our changes. I can appreciate all of the options and opinions you have. You're not wrong, just the specifics of our situation aren't open to full custom plan and changes without significant cost. This is why I tried to focus on the kitchen/dining area because these are areas that will be the most impact for the money and require no structural changes.

Unfortunately you are right. I would like to think that if you were to show the developer a better way to build their houses they would see it would bennefit everyone and make the change to the plans they offer, but I have often been accused of being overly optimistic.

Good luck with your new home. Consider keeping the kitchen in the original location and adding more windows to the original dining area location.

We had a situation where our kitchen door and door into the garage were in a corner. Our kitchen designer came up with the cabinets shown below to solve the flow issue.