I think a comfortable distance between the island and the counter is around 42". It seems that you have only 30" between your cook top and the counter. I might be a little too tight. The wall between the entrance and the kitchen could be 4' long instead of 6', you would then be able to move the island a foot which would give you more room between the cook top and the island. Could you switch the location of the toilet and vanity in your dad's bathroom so your enter facing a vanity instead of a toilet which is a lot nicer.

I agree that there is too much going on, however some of the suggestions are costly and in my opinion don't completely take care of the problems. I like the design approach it is fresh and updated. I agree that the chimney cap is out of proportion and just needs a simple band at the top. In order to make the exterior remain timeless over the years, Now Sit Down for a minute, I would make all of the exterior the white color. I know you love red however this will tie the different components of the architecture together more than any thing else. You can still have high gloss red doors and red tile pavers on the ground. It would also be very classy the use white tile in place of the brick look. You could even mix gloss white tiles with matt finish tiles to give an interesting sparkle when you ride by. I like the wrought iron upper railing, but the vertical blocking on the right side looks too heavy. So I would continue the same railing around the corner and back toward the house until it connects to the other balcony railing. This also ties the house together. It would look much more classic to not have a grid in the tall window and instead have a solid piece of glass down to the transom and then from there down be solid glass as well. Glass block in the courtyard column sections with back lights would look unbelievable. I would arch the closed in section on the second level as it would show up more there than the window being arched does, so save the money and don't arch that window. I would either hang a long contemporary light on the right elevation to dress it up or insert a long strip of glass block lighted from the interior to achieve the same effect. I charge for renderings, because I list the materials as well. Best, Leo Dowell Interiors.com

@Dar - We hired a builder and he gave us this blueprint according to our requirements. We started constructing with the foundation and then after foundation the real problem came into picture. Now i'm worried about the front elevation only. We have already decided to make the kitchen open n combine it with dining hall. As per your suggestions we can combine the stair hall which is in our hands. Let me tell you the most important thing, we are constructing each and every room according to "Vastu Shastra". So we are forced to place rooms according to that. We can't change the position of the rooms. I hope interior decoration will help us to flourish our home.

I'd do option 2 myself. Technically I see an option 3- putting the couch out in the open, diving the two spaces. Couches don't need to be on a wall- you'd just need a smaller couch to do that and still have space to pass through to the other room.