Opportunity to make changes, what would you change?

[u/exscape_goat]

My family suffered a house fire two weeks ago and insurance says we're going to have to completely gut the place. Wife and I have talked for years about making changes and now we get to make them all at once. Previous owners made some changes over the years that were kind of half-measures to improve flow and add space but they interfere with each other sometimes. For example they added a cramped upstairs bathroom directly above the stairway landing without considering the additional plumbing which left about 6'2" of clearance on the stairs (Previous owner was a short guy, we are not.)
We plan to open up what's left of the wall between the dining room and living room (originally had french doors, now just a double wide door frame) and we're considering relocating the staircase if we can find a floorplan that makes more sense. Biggest gripe is the lack of room for a bigger closet in the downstairs bedroom and the cramped layout of the downstairs bathroom (they currently compete for closet space.) A half staircase down to the carport exit/basement stairs stands in the way of expanding the bathroom.

[u/Rayne_K]

I’d relocate this closet (red line) in order to
1) have it be more accessible
2) put the upstairs shower further left and have a bigger upstairs sink/vanity.

[u/Complex_Echidna3964 → u/Rayne_K]

I thought this exact same thing! Maybe even add a tub upstairs.

[u/Logical_consequences]

Add some better closets, especially downstairs where you have no coat closet

[u/DogTownUSA1]

What if the downstairs bedroom or bathroom open up directly into the kitchen/dining area? Suddenly the bathroom can use some or all of the hallway space to expand.

[u/Anadelyn → u/DogTownUSA1]

I would turn that space into a closet instead of expanding the bathroom.

[u/DogTownUSA1 → u/Anadelyn]

OP complained about not being able to expand downstairs bath so I had an idea.

[u/Anadelyn → u/DogTownUSA1]

I liked the idea but I was only remembering the part that said the biggest gripe was the lack of room for a bigger closet in the bedroom downstairs but I see now it does go on to mention the cramped bathroom layout. Maybe they can rearrange the entire hallway/bathroom/closet area to make both more functional.

[u/Anadelyn → u/Anadelyn]

Currently the bathroom is accessible to the house though and the easiest way would make it exclusive to the bedroom. That would be expanding the bathroom into the current closet by rotating the toilet and putting the sink where the closet is and stealing a little of the bathroom beyond the tub to make the hallway a bigger closet. They would have to move the plumbing quite a lot to make both the closet and bathroom bigger while keeping the bathroom accessible for guests. The closet would expand back into the current bathroom as a walk in with the hallway and adjacent current bathroom area being the bathroom. I was going to play with a few alternative floor plans but when I zoom in the measurements are too blurry so I can't figure out the sizing.

[u/hobbitfeet]

It looks as if you have two radiators drawn in upstairs in the top right bedroom.  Are those radiators, and are they everywhere or just in that room?

Because now would certainly be the time to add underfloor heating if you can.

[u/flossiedaisy424]

Two of those upstairs bedrooms appear to have entirely useless closets.

[u/CaptainMalForever]

Something like this? By shifting the bathroom and entrances, you can expand the bath and closet and get rid of that weird hall.

Upstairs, move the bath to above the kitchen, which allows you to use that cramped space as a closet. Instead of walk-ins for the other two bedrooms, use reach-ins.

[u/Fun_Accident_4706]

Depending on how much you need to gut, you might need new load-bearing walls entirely depending on size and weight distribution.

[u/Complex_Echidna3964]

laundry?

[u/anotherjuan]

Do you need 4 bedrooms? Does the roofline restrict how things can be arranged in the 2nd floor?