Where is the front door? Is that the door by the bedroom?

Where do the stairs go? Do you need to keep both sets of stairs?

Where does the door lead below the dining room, next to the stairs?

Is that a closet by the stairs in the lower portion of the plan?

What are those rectangles in the living room and dining room?

Is every horizontal wall load bearing? There are 5 of them.

Lots of info left out, sorry! I'll try to label the floor plan but in the meantime...

Front door: lower left
Side door to small porch: right side (looks like a previous foyer?)
Back door: top, off kitchen, next to cellar door that goes under back stairs
Stairs- both go to second floor: don't need them, but we like them.
Closet under front stairs
Rectangles are chimneys: no fireplaces, but the top one in kitchen is used. (Too costly to remove, but really get in the way of moving walls...though,we don't want to completely change original walls anyway)
Not sure which walls are truly load bearing...will find out.

Thanks!

I'm thinking something along the lines of moving the bedroom to the living room area, taking down the vertical wall between bedroom, kitchen and dining room to create an open floor plan typemofmspace. Move bathroom to where the kitchen stove area is, move kitchen to bedroom area. It would be great if you could remove that horizontal wall between dining room and kitchen to make more of a combined living room dining room area.

pixie lou: What are those rectangles in the living room and dining room?

redjulie: Rectangles are chimneys: no fireplaces, but the top one in kitchen is used. (Too costly to remove, but really get in the way of moving walls...though,we don't want to completely change original walls anyway)

I'm afraid I'm easily confused, and this confuses me. I don't see a rectangle (like the ones pixie lou mentioned) in the kitchen. [I'd originally assume pixie lou's rectangles were either fireplaces or built-in storage of some sort.]

Besides the white rectangles in the lower right corners of the living room and dining room, there are two black rectangles.

One of the black rectangles is just behind the dining room white rectangle (looks like a fireplace and chimney to me, but it could as easily be a built-in and the basement furnace chimney).

The second black rectangle is in the lower-right corner of the kitchen, and might be the kitchen rectangle/chimney you're alluding to.

Easy. Move the bath to the wierd area to the right where the cooktop is currently, and then rip down the walls of the bath so the kitchen occupes the back corner entirely and can connect better with the exterior.

I'd probably also make the bedroom the dining room and the current living room the office, and that huge dining room would make a much better family room.

Thanks! Black rectangles are chimneys, white rectangles are built ins. I'm going to do some sketching of your ideas...

One road block for me is that I like how our living room gives a view to the road. Our front door is a side entrance... So, if the living room is the guest room/ office, I'd lose that view.

I see this layout often. The rear stair needs to be removed if possible and the rear bath needs to be moved farther forward or deleted.

Renovator- Where do you see this layout? I'm guessing older homes, but were they originally one family? Thanks!

What is on the second floor? Is this a large home? I wondered if the the bathroom and stairs in the back kitchen area were there for service help back in the day. The stove is in an alcove in the kitchen? No fireplace(s) just chimneys?? I'd like to see the whole place before I could suggest anything. 1890 house, = awesome in my opinion. So I am not likely to change too much of it though I guess it's already been altered beyond it's original layout.

It's not reasonable to ask others to help modify a house with only a first floor plan shown. Problem solving should always begin by defining the problem clearly so others may participate instead of asking questions or having their suggestions shot down. Good luck with it.

Sorry, just wanted fresh eyes on it and next time I will define the problem more- taking about it here defines it for me better but ill be sure to make clear before I post.. Thanks and sorry for the trouble. Sure didn't mean to shoot ideas down- we can all be misunderstood online so, sorry if I was!

This post was edited by redjulie on Sun, May 11, 14 at 9:18

Ditto what Pixielou said about moving the bathroom to the stove nook, but have it open into the office/bedroom. Then make the kitchen, old bath, and back entrance one large room, with the back stairs open to the kitchen. This will give you two long walls for cabinets and appliances; a breakfast nook could go where the old bath was.

You could put a door between the office and the dining room, which would open the space more, but be careful; it will also limit furniture placement in the office.

An alternative would be to put the new bath between the living room and office, using the closet and part of the side entrance. This would leave a narrower hallway between the rooms and the entrance, and the bedroom door would be moved to the right, in line with the door from the living room. However, in this case you would not have a window in the bathroom and will have to rely on fans for ventilation.

Here's what I posted on the Old House forum...

Just a quick idea...moving the kitchen and making the other room a den/office/guest, with fold out sofa. That's a TV across from it and shelves for books around the door.

Swapped the powder room (I didn't know if you needed the shower) and added a mudroom. Hope this helps :) {{!gwi}}From Kitchen plans

And range with windows on each side... {{gwi:1445040}}From Kitchen tables and vintage kitchens