This group has been incredibly helpful to me. My wife and I are planning a rennovation for our house. We live at the beach in NJ. I had posted previously and the group really helped push me to a higher level of thinking. I have reflected on the feedback for hours. I want to check back in now for another round of feedback.
I outlined 2 options. The main difference between the two is the location of the kitchen. Option 1 has the kitchen in the back right of the house. Option 2 has the kitchen in the back left. The first floor is 25 feet wide and 42 feet deep. For scale each box on the graph represents 2 feet.
Option 1 doesn't require any signficant structural work as the wall between the kitchen and dining room would stay. Option 2 requires taking out that wall, which is load bearing. I didn't see a need for a kitchen that is 25x16 so I added a 8x10 mudroom that you would enter in for option 2.
Option 1:
- no wall removal
- I was going to do corner windows for 8 feet eminating from the corner which has view of backyard and a wonderful 12 foot tall 70 foot long hedgerow
- cheaper
- entrance would require steps from outside in the middle of the patio
- closer to existing kitchen so less distance to move water etc.
Option 2:
- more expensive
- worse view (hedgerow on that side is newly planted and will not totally block my neighbor's house which is right there for a few years)
- allows for the creation of a mudroom at the back of the house
- by turning the island it might reduce the bowling alley feel
Mudroom: currently we actually use the front door the most. We have an enclosed porch. Our plan was to create lockers etc. up front. We would still do that. The mudroom in the back would just be so that each entrance has an area to contain mess.
Would love to hear some thoughts from the group. The previous feedback has been so helpful in helping identify blind spots etc.