Hi Mike and Emma Hope you are slowly but surely getting there... may I make some comments/suggestions that you may or not take on board, but hopefully it may at least give you some ideas/options... Going through a new build ourselves at the moment, and for what it's worth, here's what I personally think: A. Work with what you've got: - additional plumbing work, gas work etc may not be necessary and (particularly gas) can be costly when you're trying to work around existing walls, floors, etc, and as much as possible utilise the existing connections... after whatever you can save here and there, you can spend on nicer cabinetery, gadgets, finishes, etc :) B. Avoid unnecessry structural work: - removing the kitchen/living wall is a must (more space, light, etc) but removing the laundry wall is an unncessary added cost (may even require costly additional strutural support) - putting up a plastered wall on the other hand is inexpensive, allows you to redefine different zones and relocate doors/openings where required (*note: avoid hinged doors in small spaces as you have to allow for wasted space to open door - suggest cavity sliding doors, easy to incorporate in a new wall) C. Don't sacrifice functionality and natural light for design - love full height floor to ceiling cabinets, very much on trend... but they also tend to bring the walls in, which you want to avoid in an already small space... they will also block out more natural ligtht from the only window to the living and breakfast bench (meals area)... not to mention seated guests would be staring at a cabinet tower and fridge - on the other hand a walk in pantry (not that much of a walk in a small space) is also very much on trend, provides more storage and... as entertaining guests in open plan livings tends to happen more in the kitchen... it provides a good hiding place for unsightly items, including frigges... (an underbench bar fridge in the kitchen can easily keep those beers cold... though do consider that means sacrificing some cabinet space) - constantly wiping off the floors from dripping wet dishes across the kictchen from the sink to the dishwaser on the other side bench would personally drive me mad after a while... the dishwasher can easily be connected to the existing sink water and waste points through the cabinerty... any half decent plumber should be able to do that... ON THAT NOTE... or should I say those notes... I know I got a bit carried away :) ... if it were me, here's an idea of what I would try to achieve ...

subject to correct measurements my suggestion includes extending the kitchen into the old laundry and creates a new laundry next to the study with hallway access for a re-arranged bathroom but we need correct measurements to identify positions of existing toilet, taps and sinks to be more precise.Does the existing laundry have external access? do you want/need external access for a new laundry? do you want the kitchen to be open to the living and family rooms or would you prefer separate rooms? is the under stairs space already being used for walk through storage? what about access to the garage from the front entry?.....with correct internal wall measurements we could make more specific suggestions but your plans don't show or we can't see details of existing rooms

your dilemma is not quite clear...is this a building with attached buildings on both sides without any option for extra windows...what are the walls and floors made out of and what is the internal size of the kitchen, downstairs bathroom, sunroom and the entry foyer? is it possible to add another roof window above the bathroom to improve ventilation?

my suggestion would be to move the pantry out of the laundry, move the laundry door and change to a cavity slider so that the kitchen has two distinct Lshaped work areas and more floor space so several people can use the kitchen at the same time, entry door to the family room is also moved and changed to a cavity slider to make space for tall pantry and other storage cabinets that still allows space for a lounge ...subject to kitchen window the wall cabinets are rearranged, MW is stacked with a WO next to the fridge and there's space between the wall oven and cooktop for an appliance area away from the island and sink..the island is big enough for serving and eating and the support pole is reduced to a minimum or removed altogether..the kids should now be able to load the dishwasher, raid the pantry and/or the fridge without encroaching on the cook