I really like your plan. IMO, the traffic flow is so much better. It's very similar to ours so naturally I would like it. I'll leave any design comments to the others. Just doing a very quick scan of your plan, the only thing I might change would be the location of the fridge. I need a space on the side of the fridge to set stuff.

I like your plan too, as we are currenlty working on one very similar. We will also have the dining room off the back of the home and next to the kitchen. That was one of my top priorites. I want a casual feeling dining room used for familiy meals and special occassions. Windows are a huge thing for me too. So, I wanted a huge wall of windows in the kitchen. Our kitchen wall will be on the exterior, where you have your pantry and communictaion center. We have that area more between the garage and other kitchen wall, again just for optimal views and natural light (WINDOWS). You have a great plan that will be a wonderful family home. Some things are personal preferneces, like you could switch the master closet and bath, etc. I think you have a great plan to work with:)

I like everything about it EXCEPT that the powder room doesn't seem private enough.

Does the door that opens out under the stairs lead to basment stairs or to an under-the-stair storage closet? If the latter, Unless you REALLY need that storage, you might consider making that an arched entry to a little hallway that leads to the powder room. Put the sink on the wall across from the P.R. door and the toilet next to it so that the toilet plumbing is in the wall between PR and mud room. Then, no one will be able to see into your powderroom from the kitchen or family room when the door is left open and, While the PR will be a bit less easily accessible, I guarantee that your guests will feel more comfortable
using it.

Thanks for all the comments.

bevangel - the door under the stairs is for the basement. I was really trying to make that PR accessible from many different areas, and yet still be private, but I agree with you that it's not private enough.

I am hoping that you have a walkout basement. With the wall adjacent to your door there will be no way to get anything long like a couch down those stairs. The kitchen will need some work to make it usable with the fridge and sink in their present location.

If you dropped the door from the garage into the house down a bit and rotated the powder room, you could make the door to the PR more private. However this steals some space from the garage so I'm not sure if it will work.
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Post your kitchen layout on the Kitchens forum to get their feedback. You can get some good advice there. I'm assuming your range/cooktop will be on the lower wall of the kitchen (back to back with the mudroom), so the venting from your hood will need to run along that wall, through the pantry to the exterior. (Unless it runs straight up through the roof, but that all depends on what's on the 2nd floor.) Ask your builder about the venting and what that will mean for your upper cabinet space (if they can run everything through the walls that's great, just make sure it's all planned for.) Also depending on the distance, you'll need a fan/blower of a certain strength for it to be effective, so I'd talk to a few hood dealers too, or ask on the appliance forum.

The thing I like about your fridge location is that you can open the doors all the way (it's not in a corner) and that it's accessible from the dining area without going through a cooking zone. The downside is there's no landing space next to it. You'll want to watch your aisle size in front of it: big enough that the whole fridge can be pulled out (e.g. for maintenance), but not so big that the island isn't handy for fridge landing space. So for example, when you're loading all your new groceries into the fridge, where will you set them first? Will bags on the island be handy or will you have to put them on the floor? I don't have an answer but some of the folks on the kitchens forum might.

I like Chicagoans changes, but I would move the laundry room down, even with the powder room wall, making the garage more square. Then, maybe add a door, from the laundry room to the pantry, so you can add a freezer in the laundry room (if you need it) and have easier access to the pantry, from the mudroom, without walking through the kitchen. Much easier to put away groceries.

If you moved the pantry down, with the laundry room, you could move the fridge and make the family communication area bigger. That would give you room for two people to be on the computers and have the door to the pantry on the 'south' wall (bottom). Maybe add some clerestory windows, in the communication area and bring in more light, to the kitchen. You have great windows on the back, but I'd want more light in the work area. I'd match the cabinets in the communication area with those in the kitchen, either the perimeter or island, if you have more than one color.

I'd put the fridge and cooktop/range on the 'south' back wall and maybe a wall oven on the 'west' wall, with a little baking area. Or the fridge and microwave could go there, with cooktop/range and oven on back wall. You will get lots of great ideas, on the kitchen forum.

Oh, and maybe extend the porch, across to the master bedroom. Then you could screen it (if necessary) and even add a hot tub...or just a great area for sitting, with French doors, opening the bedroom to all that light and views :)

You're working on the powder room privacy issue, so that's good.

Kitchen: I'd want more light. Like 'mommy', I'm very attached to natural light inside a house -- from two sides of every room where possible. The Kitchen Forum will help you improve the kitchen layout. I like a fridge near the eating area, but this layout doesn't work well. Do you use a pantry a lot? I'd just as soon have extra storage in the 'back hall' and more upper cabinets right IN the kitchen.

Master Suite: Few people want windows in closets. I'd prefer closets sandwiched between the MBR and the master bath, which would also give the bath more light. I don't like walking through a bathroom to get to a closet, especially if the bathroom is occupied. Few people like beds against an outside wall.

Porch: You may want skylights to keep interior rooms brighter. (Is this drawing oriented with North at the top? A SW porch would be hot.)