Thank you for your response. We had plans pretty finalised until we found out that we can keep just that long wall into the large space as it is a load-bearing. There is an opportunity to put a door in though. I am attaching what it looked like with all the walls that we can now remove. We have also been tinkering with ideas which I am adding as well. I added some comments on the plans as well. What we want to have is a dining area with a large table that seats 8-10 people. We want enough space for two people to work and cook in the kitchen. Thus, we were thinking of an island or an L-shape workspace coming out. We'd like to have a utility room to have space for all the cleaning utensils. Washer and Dryer will be upstairs in a separate laundry room. The living room is nothing formal but an area to relax and watch TV. We'd like to have an L-shaped cough in there for a family of four (2 kids under the age of 10).

The Persian rug is lovely. We have several (sitting room, study, hall, bedroom ..... they're a bit addictive), with fabric using a couple of the colours in each for stuff like cushions, curtains etc. with neutral walls. I agree with minnie about the patterns. To get the right colour combinations, at a reasonable price, you could find a company that does a range with the colour or colours you're looking for and then look for remnants on ebay, to get them at bargain prices. That's worked well for us. Stuff like this:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Schumacher-Curtain-Fabric-PASHA-PAISLEY-2m-POMEGRANATE-100-WOOL-/322509242456?hash=item4b170c8058:g:DwsAAOSw42JZAwWm And if you're looking for another rug to complement the one you've got, www.carpetu2.co.uk has a massive range on-line, at better prices than I've been able to find here. They're actually in Greece, but don't charge for shipping, which is very fast.

Ok. Where do you enter? And where is the bathroom? Bedroom is upstairs? Fireplace will be used as such? Is the space next to the sitting room a hallway? Where could the soil pipe go?

I agree with everyone saying that open plan is good if you have a dedicated enclosed space for a snug or second living room. My son is an architect and he has seen a major change with people requesting ways to separate spaces to revert back to a more traditional layout. What about privacy for those moments when kids bring their friends over, they really do not want parents listening and being in their space! Designing a space for a growing family means trying to future proof the footprint. No matter how quiet appliances are meant to be, they will end up irritating you. We have a coffee machine, extractor fan, washing machine, tumble dryer, microwave, kettle in our current kitchen and are lucky enough to be able to move the kitchen into a 10sqm study to create a separate utility and then build a rear extension with a kitchen / diner / snug. We also have a ground floor loo and living room on the other side of the house. The noise of appliances we find exceptionally intrusive, partitions and half height walls may help reduce the noise but won’t eliminate them. Have you also thought about where you will store the kids toys, books etc and how easily you will be able to hide food preparation and washing etc from visitor? I do like the idea of having sliding doors if that is at all possible to zone off spaces when you do want a quiet area.