Looking for layout/redesign ideas

I already started a bit of work on the downstairs, taking out the wall between the bed/living room and the kitchen. That’s why you see a “wall used to be here” label :-).

-- "Always cut *towards* a major artery... that way you'll be careful."

Thanks for the post. but, the image url you have shared here, is not working…

-- Melvin, San Diego, http://www.xpress-restoration.com

Oops, I recently decluttered my woodworking directory and moved that file to a separate subdirectory:

http://www.darksleep.com/puff/woodworking/house/house_floorplan.jpg

You can also see this alternate version, which has the apartment borders marked in bold lines.

http://www.darksleep.com/puff/woodworking/house/house_floorplan_with_apt_borders.png

At this very moment we’re building a wall across the middle of the garage, to create a clean/controlled
workshop space. This included knocking a bunch of old plaster off one of the walls, then chiseling/grinding
the rest of it away, creating a truly epic dust cloud (and fouling a bunch of other stuff in the garage,
because the chiselers didn’t wait for the plastic barrier to go up. You just can’t get good help these
days, but I guess that’s what happens when you pay people in shots of whiskey :-).

-- "Always cut *towards* a major artery... that way you'll be careful."

Not a lot else has developed since then. I’ve been busy/distracted, and I’m still looking for a brilliant solution to some of the problems with this layout. So far, all I can figure is either very superficial changes, or drastically overhauling by knocking large amounts of wall out, relocating multiple bathrooms and kitchens, etc.

-- "Always cut *towards* a major artery... that way you'll be careful."

You have a quite nice kitchen space just need to utilize it effectively. I would recommend you to get a 3-D kitchen design, you can get it here for free. After you have done with the layout of your home you can start working on each section.