Definitely better!

Where will the sink be?

From a functional standpoint, I don't know if you need both island and peninsula, but IIRC, you want the outside view from the peninsula.

Your island seating, if you need 4 stools, would not lend itself to conversation. A curved overhang, or a couple of stools at one end or the other, would work better, if the plan is to have 3 or 4 people eating at the island.

I'm not crazy about the tiny closets in the entry. Depending on your climate, you can probably get away with just the closet by the office/powder room, assuming family will go in and out through the garage. That allows the windows/sidelights to be as big as possible - the deep covered entry (if I read correctly) will not allow much light in.

I'm not very good at visualizing the front elevation given a floor plan, but I wonder what your roof lines will look like with the recesses by the mud room and front entry.

How big is the garage? If the cars enter from the right, it seems your whole front yard will be driveway; if from the front or left side, it seems like a long hike for guests to get to the front door. How do you see landscaping the front of the house?

OK, I've looked back and forth several times, and I saw your previous thread. But it wasn't until just now that I realized that your huge pantry is preventing you from having any windows on that side of the kitchen! I would either move the kitchen into that space, or eliminate it completely. I would put pantry storage on the fridge wall, with floor to ceiling shelves behind doors (so you aren't spending a fortune on pantry cabinets). Like a walk-in closet, a walk-in pantry eats up a lot of space with a walkway.

Theres 26 total corners on this house. Going to be one expensive foundation and roof.

thanks for the feedback.
i am ok not having windows on that kitchen wall - i don't have windows on a similar wall in my current house and its never bothered me. that side of the house is facing northing and is wooded with a house not that far away so i wouldn't get much light that way anyway.

one thought is to get rid of the peninsula and make the island a little longer to have seating come around the corner of the island. but then i would have to move the sink back to the island. will think about.

the front of our house will be a lot of driveway but there is not much i can do about that. the property is on a steep slope with the house being built into the hill. the back half of the lot is flat but lower down and will be where the kids can play ball, etc. the house (to fit into the hill) is in the front of the lot (which is narrow - hence the garage in front of the house)

why 2 powder rooms? I think I'd try to make the right hand one a 3/4 bath (with a shower) so that if I even needed to do one floor living, I could bathe. (I am young, and did need 1 floor living for a few months after a random back injury...)

You'll have great windows on two (or more) sides in most rooms. This is a huge plus.

That great room is HUGE. So huge that I think you might feel lost in it. Have you "walked through" what furniture you'll use to fill it?

One staircase does make much more sense, but you're still hiding it away in a hallway. I still maintain that I'd want it to be out and visible -- for Christmas lights, if nothing else.

Too many cabinets in the kitchen, especially since you have such a great pantry. No one will ever work at the "against the wall" cabinets near the stairs, and they'll just be clutter catchers. I'd make them closed storage or bookshelves.

Since the pantry is an around-the-corner, I'd add a pass-through between it and the kitchen. How wide is the pantry? You're showing shelves only on one side: If this is what'll fit in the pantry, you're using walk-in space to garner only a reach-in amount of storage.

I'm not sure what the rooms are by the garage entryway, but there's an awful lot of hallway. I think you could greatly reduce the square footage in this area without hurting the functionality in the least. In fact, the whole house seems to have excessive walkways and hallways.

I'd lose one of the two powder rooms, especially since your plumbing is strung from one end of the house to the other -- this is both expensive and inefficient.

thanks mrspete!

the pantry is about 6ft wide. not sure if we can have shelves on both sides then. one part will be storage for my china.

although the staircase is hidden from the great room - it will be a focal point when you walk in the door. i don't have christmas decorations but i do understand your point.

i agree with your kitchen cab comment. i was planning to put an outlet in one of the cabinets and make it more like a closet to plug in my vac and keep other cleaning supplies.

we can't decrease the sq footage on the left side because above that is a bedroom.

thanks again. i will post the second floor shortly.

Back to the staircase -- why not remove the wall dividing the dining room from the hallway? It'll open up the space, bring in more light to the hallway /stairs, and make the dining room nicer.

I really want my dining room to feel intimate and separate. I know it won't get very much light (that window faces west) but we will use it mostly in the evening anyway. The house already has this huge kitchen/great room combination that will be filled with light and very open. I'd like to have a more intimate space as well.
I will probably change the wall so that there is an opening in the middle versus and opening on each side.

i am going to post my second floor some time today - we are finalizing it. but any additional thoughts on this floor would be greatly appreciated.

i know its hard to read. sorry.