Hello again.
In 2018 I posted this plan- perhaps it’s somewhere to start.

With descriptions

alternative plan keeping more of what you already have, although you could do Jonathan's bootroom extension and then my mudroom would be lovely huge pantry. i live in surrey now but used to live in texas - loved my pantry and my mudroom there!!

not sure if there's room for dining table in kitchen too (but you'd have seating at island for informal dining), or whether lounge would become dining room and dining would become separate formal lounge.

could/would you knock out that big fireplace in lounge and open it all up to the kitchen to include dining table and open lounge too - with additional separate lounge at front?

Thanks for your comment.. that would be one giant mudroom wouldn't it? Don't mudrooms usually attach via the garage? I've always wanted one but never had it. The current space between the kitchen and adjoining room aka utility room, houses all of the electric / hookups for the house so we wouldn't want to move all of that or knock down that wall though a portion of it could have an opening to the other space. So where you put the island is a bit of an issue because any seating closer to the lounge/doors out blocks access. Yes I would consider removing the fireplace although it is structural so I will have to have a steel lintel. Have you updated your home here in Surrey? Do you have any other floorplan ideas? I'm willing to do an extention. There is for example, space on the left side of the front door entrance to put a small WC and make the current wc a closet or bathroom attached to the 'study' which can be a downstairs bedroom too (I may need one for medical reasons so also need to consider something like a murphy bed furniture piece. I like open plan like most other ppl and those retractable garden window walls as well. Also any comment on upstairs is welcome too.. ie. the master bathroom is tiny and awkward- I thought to maybe turn it into a closet and small bath adjoining to the far left rear bedroom. Then turn the family bath into a staircase+storage to the loft. Of course that means then turning the bedroom adjoining the master bedroom into a bathroom / closet and losing a bedroom which in this country seems to affect the value of the house but not sure what else I can do as the space is so awkward.

I like bits of jonathans idea but opening up the entire rear for kitchen and lounge does not seem to be the only way to use the space... I prefer a playroom for example to be facing outdoors so kids can run in and out. Currently as in jonathans design, the 'great room' is the playroom and the tv is where the 3seat sofa is and no seating to the right because it blocks everything off too much. I have a desk agains the wall adjoining the dining room. The lounge is one long narrow awkward space that we don't use. I once put a dining room table in there to feel how it might be to have a kitchen there but it was awkward to navigate being so narrow.

I would say a mudroom should be a secondary access into the house which is expected to be more messy than the formal front door - yes, in the US it would probably more often be accessed direct from garage as people use their garages there (which is exactly what we had - mudroom straight in from garage and also accessed with door into front hallway, also with access out the back of mudroom directly into kitchen). In the UK garages are used less and so mudroom is more of a side door into house where everyone drops shoes and coats and bags - or possibly a side door into house and a door into garage. I wouldn't want to force the kids to go through garage to get into mudroom when they walk home from school.

And yes, we have renovated our house here in Surrey and are also planning an extension - with new mudroom/utility with side door access into house and also into attached garage, as well as through into hallway. Once you put washer, dryer and have space for everyone's coats/shoes/bags you'll find a big mudroom doesn't seem so big any more - the more space the better and then you can hide away all the messy stuff!

As for all the hookups being in the utility - it's not that big a deal to move them - much easier than building an extension or inserting steels to take out structural fireplace!

Perhaps Jonathan's idea would work but swap over the functions - so where he's made part of the garage into office space, use that as playroom (with more direct access from Great Room if you feel the need to be more connected to it) and put the Office where he put the Playroom at the front of the house. Note that kids grow quite quickly and their needs change so keeping rooms flexible is a good idea as they will suddenly be in their bedrooms all the time - or you'll want them in a room with doors to watch their annoying TV programs or play video games - so Jonathan's garage conversion room would be a really useful flexible space as the kids get older and function would change over time. One of the front rooms could become your downstairs - or perhaps the garage conversion would be best for bedroom suite with access to garden?

I suggest you get a couple of architects over to have a look, find one that you like and engage them to come up with a couple of options to meet your needs and budget. A good builder or a good interior designer should also be able to walk you through some options, but you'd have to be prepared to pay someone for their time in going through it all as it's not a simple fix as you do have lots of options with so much space.

What is the idea you want to create with the kitchen 'needing' to go to the back?

You want an open plan kitchen dining? A mud-utility. Study-playroom. Lounge. Anything else? Downstairs bedroom+bath?

Downstairs bed is a nice to have with maybe a murphy bed apparatus, Need office(s), maybe a larger tv room / cozy seating space.. but mostly, improved flow for the sqfootage even if it means adding walls

Also the front is quite ugly.. wouldn't mind a much more 'grand' exterior.. different / nicer windows, and a standard based on Houston euro-inspired homes...

Also might want another garage a bit further up the drive so i could convert existing garage to poolroom, workshop, etc.

ha, i used to live in Houston and hated most of the architecture! we built a colonial-style house which was more in keeping with the original houses in our older neighbourhood, of course it was ruined by sticking a massive garage on the side, but that was better than giving up the backyard to put the garage at the back. would love to see an example of a Euro-inspired home in Houston that you like. i feel like people in Houston would think your UK house is super cute!

Not a floorplan with kitchen (yet), but I did play a bit with your exterior.

Lifted the porch a bit to break the heavy horizontal line, same pitch as the new dormer. New windows (style is basically a copy from the dormer photo I could use), removed bedroom bay. Also removed groundfloor bay on the right by etending the exterior wall outward towards roofline (overhang gone). Brick painted (either with or without render), imagine some fresh shiplap or whatever siding you fancy on the left.

(to return a favour paypal.me/rinkedit)

Oh dear - I’m not in Surrey or Texas ! However this is what I do for a living ( working remotely ) if you want to click on my name or icon it will take you to my Houzz pro page - where you can see some past projects and what people thought about the service /working with me - as it’s a joint effort ! You definitely should be involved too !

i like the kitchen.. and moving the wall for an office.. couldn't the utility room bee the bathroom though? That space you marked for the other bathroom is massive and maybe not necessary as the bedroom I'd want downstairs will use a swivel bed.. also I was hoping to maybe make better use of the hall space.. move part of the staircase so it takes up less room.. maybe to the right of the door entrance? What do you think? https://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/lorraine-vale-traditional-staircase-phvw-vp~125590?share=clipboard Maybe to make a grander entrance to the kitchen. And I'm hoping to maybe add a 'residential lift/elevator' not sure where to put that. The space currently under the stairs is a horrid closet space.. we need something bigger. Thanks

I think the grand double storey hallway is part of the house its architecture.

And the large downstairs bathroom (similar size as the one above) will be great for elderly and can have that luxury feel that suits the house.

Would not change utility, as there is the side entrance, plenty electrics you mentioned, loadbearing walls (I tried to keep as much of them as possible in my scetch).

I imagined the coats could go opposite the utility door, and extra shoes and such in the utility. Space under the stairs would be for vacuum cleaner, toilet paper and such.

And if you are set on an elevator, you could relocate the downstairs toilet toward the utility side and sacrifice bed2 ensuite.