Here is the second floor that shows the high ceiling for her area. Thanks again in advance for any suggestions.

I can't offer much technical advice, but just wanted to say what a generous thing for your family to do for your MIL!

This post was edited by AtomicJay007 on Thu, Dec 11, 14 at 17:23

I like the layout of the in law suite but don't think I would like having to walk through the family room to get to the dining room and butler's pantry in the main house. Can you switch the kitchen and family room?

If your mother in law continues to live with you as she ages, will she be able to get a walker in and out of her bathroom? And since she is active and involved, surely she would some closet or wardrobe space? Her bedroom seems like there is no room for a wardrobe. Having a dedicated, little room for grandchild sleepovers seems like a great idea, but, perhaps she should use that space to enlarge her bathroom and storage area.

Or, perhaps a built-in type bed or bunk where the bathroom is currently configured, and move the bath to the area where the little bedroom is.

Thank you for your comment AtomicJay007! She is really wonderful and we're blessed to have her!

Thanks juddgirl2 for your comments and I agree with you! I really struggled with the kitchen/family room placement but in the end placed them as they are mainly for two reasons. Firstly, the breakfast room is right off the kitchen and is only very sunny in the early morning. If I moved the kitchen and the family room, the breakfast room won't be as convenient as it won't be off the kitchen, and I can't move the breakfast room further to the left because our neighbors are right there and we would be too close to the property line (also we have already built a playhouse in that corner which we could move but would rather not). Secondly, we're trying to follow the feng shui thought that the kitchen should never ever be in that northwest corner. Thanks again for your input!

Thanks birdlover_66 for your comments and ideas. That's a lovely room in your picture! You are right - there is not enough closet space at all. I'm going to rethink that area. You gave me an idea with your picture to make the two bedrooms into one bedroom with a little pull out love-seat in it, that way a grand kid could sleep over. That would also give enough room for a closet. Thanks for the tip!

The bathroom is wheelchair accessible by code here, and the shower will be built for disabilities so we will hopefully be prepared for whatever the future brings. (We actually have a law here in Sweden that all new homes must have a handicapped full bathroom on the ground floor large enough for a wheelchair to rotate in.)

Thanks again!

Someone else more knowledgeable please correct me if I'm wrong, but it is my understanding that you do not want to have a piano near a window because of temperature issues, so it seems like inside a bay window would be a real no-no, especially in a cold climate.

Anne

Thanks jimandanne_mi for the comment. I hadn't thought of that! I just googled it and learned that it is not a good idea to put it near the window. If we do it I would have to put special film on the windows but in general it is not recommended to have a piano near the window. I will use this info and try to figure out where else I can place it. Right now in our too small house it is always an obstacle. Thanks again!

A few ideas.

I'm no expert, but I think working part of the kitchen is hard to configure. 1 m asiles may be too tight, but I'm not sure if changing the island to a peninsula would give you enough space for prep. I'm assuming it's a chest freezer next to the fridge, if not or if it can go somewhere else I'd move the range to that counter, DW and sink to the other counter and have a prep sink on the island. Aisles would still be tight but at least prep and cooking can be on one side of the kitchen, and cleanup on the other side.

I played with rooms, furniture a little.

Swapped LR and DR. Combined 2 pantries into one, moved 1/2 bath and command center (assume it's a closet across the kitchen). In the FR room moved the bar, piano and seats. In MIl's side, I think you can fit a closet across the bedroom if you have a corner kitchen. I moved the dining table to the bedroom wall and the blue rectangle next to it represents an upholstered storage bench that can be used for dining when MIL has guests. Also, some people prefer chair height sitting as they grow older, so the bench can also serve that purpose. Furniture can be changed as needed, but I think a sofa/corner sofa would be a good choice, if MIL needs to take a nap from time to time.

Thank you so much for your ideas and suggestions sena01! I thought they were great and I've added most of them (didn't get around to the MIL suite yet) in the floor plan attached. Your tips were all very useful and switching the dining/living worked out well as did combining the two pantries!

In the kitchen I have to keep that cook top and overhead fan where they are because that fan (it is the type to go over an island, and not against a wall) is already coming from our existing house and we don't want to have to replace it as it's pretty new and was expensive. Also, I don't want to put the stovetop and fan in the other island because it will block the sun room view which I'm hoping will be really pretty. Yes I too have been very concerned about the lack of space between the counters and wondering if 1m was enough so I have made it 1.1m (almost 44 inches) and made the island 80cm (about 34 inches). I put the command center where you placed it and put the freezer/ref/oven on that wall too. I added more counter space in the sun room and also on the right wall of the kitchen so I should hopefully be fine now.

Thanks again for your thoughts and tips and they were all so useful! Greatly appreciated!