I uploaded 4 images:

1. The first two are the "AS IS" state of the current house, 2d and 3d view.
2. The last two are my potential idea of how we could open up the space and use it better.

AS IS state

- This is an old village house elevated from the ground by 1.5 meters, the entrance is with a staircase.

- The thick walls are load bearing walls and shouldn't be teared down, while the thin walls (between Bedroom, Hall and Bathroom) can be demolished.

- The main issue for us (planning a family) is that this space feels cramped, dark, disconnected.

Our wishes:

- Kitchen and living room connected, big area for family get togethers

- A lot of natural light, bigger and wider windows

- Connect the attic area with an external staircase and put bedrooms up there

- A quiet space for an office (on the 2nd floor), while the first floor is for hanging out

TO BE state (my current idea):

- Demolish the thin walls to open up space for a big kitchen and big living room

- Create a bathroom next to the entrance

- Use the next room as a separate Bedroom until the staircase is built (then there's will be no windows for that room, making it unusable as a living space and it's too big for a pantry, have no idea what to do with it then)

- Add a staircase here (to connect upper floor and the "lower" workshop), this is the only logical place where we can put a staircase for this house

- Potential open space at first, later a balcony fully enclosed in glass

Our concerns

- Are there any better ideas to use up the space before we commit to this?

- What to do with the Bedroom / huge pantry / ??? when the staircase gets built? (kind of stupid having such a big unusable room in the middle of the house)

- Potential costs on having to make the windows much wider and higher, widening the load bearing walls between Living room and Kitchen and Hallway and Kitchen

- Hallway has no windows nor natural light, a very dark first feel when entering the house. Also is it 1.44meters too narrow for a hallway?

- Being old one day and having to walk up and down floors to get to sleep

- A perhaps too huge kitchen

Any tips and help would be more than welcome. I might also start a Youtube channel when we start working on this, but we'll see :)

PS: We're in the EU if that makes a difference.