Wow! This is plan is more like my layout than any other have seen.

I think the stairs look a bit random, just like they are thrown in the hallway.

I am afraid that your kitchen will end up being kind of lacking in cabinets, especially since I don't see a pantry- will you use the utility for that? I might make the nook space longer and put more cabinets in there or get rid of the nook all together, elongate the whole living area and plan for a table in center there (that is what we are doing but that is not everyone's cup of tea- it did give us more cabinets but it would cut down on your long island).

sweet.reverie, you are right about the stairs, I just couldn't think of any other placement. I am hoping for a pantry in the utility, that is where I need help on how to fit it all in. And wishfully thinking that less cabinets will pare down to only useful things. Are you in the process of building this layout? Do you like it so far?

No we have a different layout, designed by a poster here. It is just pretty similar. Here is a link to a picture of it

Here is a link that might be useful: Floorplan LINK

I saw your plan above, and also thought it reminded me of sweet.reverie's plan. You might get some good ideas. I think the flow is okay on this plan, but I do wonder what your upstairs looks like. Are you going to post that too?

I do think your master layout can be better, but need better numbers.
As for your kitchen--take that to the kitchen forum for better ideas.

To improve traffic flow, consider swapping the outside utility room entrance with the washer/dryer. Otherwise you'll have to walk past the appliances on your way to the kitchen -- both inconvenient and possibly messy.

How many people will be living here? Just you and your husband, or do you anticipate having children?

If you expect to raise a family in this house, you might want a larger dining area.

Otherwise, I like it!

I'd rearrange the utility room so that the inside door opens on the right end of that wall rather than the left. Otherwise, you're walking through your kitchen every time you want to do laundry. I'd also consider giving some of the utility room space to the right of the ref (in the picture) to the kitchen, so you can have more cabinets on that side of the refrigerator.

I wouldn't want to walk past a door that opens into the front hall every time I leave the master bathroom. What if your spouse leaves the door open and you are just walking out of the shower? (I'm assuming you like to dress in the dressing room since you have dedicated space for it, rather than the bathroom.) So I'd try to rearrange that space, or at least have one of those door hinges that closes the door automatically. (That's probably the simplest solution.)

Even if you're ok with one sink, I'd still lengthen the vanity in the Mbath so that you have more counter and more space for drawers.

Are those two circles in the LR columns? I'm a bit confused about how you'll lay that space out. If those are columns, your LR furniture will probably all be to the right of them, so it looks like you have a big empty space between the kitchen and LR. Unless that's where your table will be? And maybe the nook is for a small sitting / having coffee area?

I'd try laying out your furniture, to scale, to see how you'll set everything up. The columns look rather randomly placed so it would be nice to line those up with what would be the edge of the kitchen. Then you could incorporate them into your kitchen design. Maybe one of these will give you some ideas (columns incorporated into a pass through between kitchen and LR):

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The kitchen island's clearance between it and the corner of the too small breakfast nook is way too tight. That means that the island will need to be smaller. That's OK if your prep sink is on it, but you have the cleanup sink on it. And your refrigerator is in a drywall nook, which will be problematic for clearances with the door opening. You'd be better off taking that part of the utility area and refrigerator and making that into counter space in the kitchen with the cleanups sink there.

The master bath has a lot of wasted floor space that doesn't translate into making it feel spacious because of how it's laid out. It's like you added on a big square of open space to a "regular" hall bath, not a master.

Not feeling the awkward sorta separated but not flow between the family room and kitchen. The columns are oddly placed, and appear to be placed there out of nowhere. They don't relate to any other type of design element, and they don't really separate the spaces well either. Either integrate them better as room separators, or pay for a lot more steel to get rid of them.

This is so great, thank you all for taking the time to post.
Sweet.reverie, your plan is very nice and similar in many ways.
Chibimimi, I don't know why I didn't think of that but I am sure glad you did.
zone4newby - adult kids, married & gone, just us two & dog
Chicagoans-visited last year and love your city. Those are columns. In original (huge) plan they were on 'kitchen side', when we tried to make smaller, I thought it would interfere with table we planned to place between island and walkway leading to front door. But after your recommendation to line up with kitchen and seeing pics you posted I am sure I need to change. Just two of us, so will be using nook as primary eating and on rare occasions will use larger table.
Live wire oak - you are right about the columns but Chicagoans have really helped me figure those out. (Hubs didn't answer me when I mentioned more $ for steel) I need to go back to the drawing board on the island and fridge clearance. Thank you, that could have been a lifetime of running into the island corner. Planning to have (L to R): island, barstools, large oval table w/chairs, walking room to front door, sofa facing fireplace, etc. That is how the idea house was set up and without imagination, is the only way I can see it. I know, I am having so much trouble with the Mbath, but what can I do?
Kirkhall- first floor has caused enough anxiety, can't tackle second, but hub says 2 bedrooms on either side with bath in middle. What can I do with that Master? My problem is no creativity and can only think about how I saw idea house.

The biggest issue is that the columns were probably structural in the original, and thus their position is fixed according to how the roof is supported. You can't really figure that out in a plain floor plan. That needs a professional architect to design. Or at least a structural engineer and drafter. You could be placing the columns in a completely inappropriate spot from what is actually needed.

If they were merely decorative, then they could be placed wherever you wanted. But then, that extra steel would be a must.

You've got to get a pro involved. It's especially important with open concept plans. They are a lot more complicated than the old 30'W ranch with a center bearing wall down the middle that any builder could do in his sleep without a blueprint of any kind.