One possibility would be to swap the living room and the dining room. Since the current living room is larger than the current dining room you could still keep some comfortable seating (couch and upholstered chairs?) against the front wall for a keeping room/dining concept. Then your new dining areas (kitchen and dining room) and living areas (living and drawing room) would have good flow between them, which would work well both for family and entertaining. You could also add some builtin bookshelves in the drawing room or new living room to create a library area to add another fun element to the living areas. These bookshelves could be against the long walls in the drawing room, around the window with a window seat in the living room (former dining room), or built to create some separation in the open area between the drawing room and living room/stair area. Your plan seems to show some sort of builtin there, but I'm not sure what it is.

Tsilanko, I would always recommend professional installation where needed. But what I am doing here is suggesting that WHEN you are planning to build or renovate, to consider how your plans will affect you in 20 or 30 years time. Split levels are very hep when you are young. A kitchen 3 steps down at 30 is rarely a problem, but might be a hazard at 60, or, as Marjie1059 suggested, if you break a leg. ... All my parents' homes were terrible for old people. They were forced to move to a bungalow in extreme old sge because the location and design of their home was more suitable for an active young couple with a large family than for an elderly couple with stroke disabilities. I would not want to move again, so my present home has features built in that make ageing in place simpler. Mostly small changes, like grab rails, and lever handles on doors and faucets. A major disability suddenly suffered requires major changes if permanent. I did look at this because it came up in the discussion, but if you look at the heading, Planning for Disability, it means just that. Plan ahead so you don't have to make expensive changes later on. But thank you for your advice, yes, major changes are not in the DIY domain.

I suggest you follow the step-by-step guide for creating storage cabinets under the bathroom sink. Take proper measurements - Measure the available available space in height, width and height. Cut Plywood to size - With a circular saw and framing square, cut all the required pieces out. You can use a sliding compound saw as an alternative. Attach the base and sides - Start assembling the sink cabinets by placing the bottom piece of plywood sheet on a flat surface. Attach the back and top boards - Place the plywood sheet for the top part of the cabinet and attach wood screws to connect it to both the sides. Turn the back faces of the cabinet upwards. Keep the back piece over the structure and fix it into place with wood screws. Attach shelves - Place the cabinet in an upright position to install the shelves. Slide a shelf into the structure so it is flush against the back. Attach door - Keep both hinges of the door on the same side of the plywood sheet. Drill them using wood screws into place. Now keep the door over the cabinet structure, extend the hinges to one of the side panels and fix them to make them secure. Fix a hasp closure on the other side of the door, placing it in the center of the hinges.

I would consider putting cabinets on the short wall where the utility wall is. Have your stove there centered on the area. Move the sink so it is centered on the long wall where the cooktop is now. Put the fridge on the end run of cabinets closest to the dining table. That will give you an L shape kitchen with a nice work triangle. If you have your heart set on an island remove all the wall cabinets and install a large island. This is not the style of your kitchen but it does show the layout I described above. L shape cabinetry with stove on short end, sink in the middle with DW to right of sink with cabinet above it for dish storage and the refridgerator on the end run so it is out of work triangle and conveniet to the dining area for serving or work triangle for prep and cooking. Island can be any style you desire. L shape with island and open across from island; you might consider this layout if you desire an island. Something like this?