pamghatten, what do you see as you enter? Which wall faces the entry? You've got, and are lucky to have, multiple focal points. On a scale of importance, the primary, dominant one is the long wall of bookcases and fireplace. That's a pretty massive unit and makes a big statement in the room. Wouldn't it be a lot less interesting without it? Would you want to, or could you, de-emphasize it in relation to the other elements? And so that they were all equal? You could paint it all out the color of the wall and it would be less obvious or toned down but would still be a dominant feature given its relative mass and scale, as well as textural quality. Often that wall is placed directly across from the main entry where it's on full display. A greeter, so to speak. That's the focal point for your room and you'd be hard pressed to have something else take visual precedence. As the dominant architectural feature, you likely plan your main seating area around it and facing it because its function is handy, it's structurally beautiful to look at, and it contains a warm fire if you use the fireplace. (Personally, a fireplace is a beautiful view for me whether it's lit or not.) It also provides storage for the tv, ever so important in today's world. Wouldn't it be odd to turn your back on it? Or not pay much attention to adorning it? Being prominent, you'd want to put some effort into making sure it looks good 'cause it's going to be standing out whether you like it or not. (A lot of people really don't care about what things actually look like, but those people probably wouldn't be reading a decor board.) Something like that is also a backdrop for your seating area. The French doors with a view to a pond sounds like your secondary focal point having more visual dominance than the bay window. You might accent it with beautiful drapes (or not for some). Capitalizing on its view from the seating area would also be a high priority for me. Then there's the bay area, likely less dominant overall than the French doors. In terms of not paying attention to focal points, color, for example, is often used around a focal point to highlight it. You wouldn't, however, do something dramatic like paint the French door wall (your secondary focal point) in an accent color. It would compete strongly with the main wall and wouldn't feel or look right. Why is that wall red? And it keeps grabbing your attention in an uncomfortable way. Not much flow. You could, of course, but it doesn't really make visual sense or feel right, does it. Color choices can be scaled to the focal areas, also, as some colors are more predominant than others. If you used red heavily to highlight all your focal points because you love them, it might be a bit overwhelming and confusing. Scaling the use of color, thinking about where you want some emphasis and its overall effect, would work better. For the overall space, scaling the focus throughout feels/flows better, looks better, and is more balanced, orderly, and interesting to look at and to experience. Whether you're aware of it or not, you're probably doing it or seeing it, and it probably affects whether you like or don't like a room or something in a room. All attention being proportioned equally would be pretty flat and confusing. Don't you try for that sort of variety on a small scale, when creating a mantel or tablescape? Focal points and emphasis really do make a lot of effective sense.

We are using a designer, as we thought that this would be sufficient for a remodel. As for the kitchen, I think that the reason for the pantry is so that the kitchen can take full advantage of the lake views and maybe because of budget? This is a cottage, so we are trying to keep the budget under control, which the designer knows. She is trying to give us the best possible layout without having to move very many walls. I'm thinking that maybe this was the wrong place to post. I've been reading other threads and it appears most houses are starting from scratch! We are in the situation where we have to work with what we have - especially when it comes to window placement. As for the measurements, I'm sure that she will give them to me. I just thought that I was supposed to be able to figure them out from looking at the plans :)

Orbital sander and carefully sanding some of the clear coat off. It depends how deep it is in there. I would take maybe 150 or 180 grit and sand some of it off and then stop and do some hand sanding on the burnt area spot as with orbital sanders they can often burn through something you don't want them to because they are so fast. Once you have it sanded out, clear coat it again with 2 or 3 coats. If its gone down into the wood and stain its self then orbital sand the stain off and unfortunately you will have to re-stain it.

We just purchased a cape cod style house. we would like to add a wood burning fireplace in our main floor with a wood burning stove below it in the basement. I know the venting for such is possible because this is the way my parents is set up. But I am wondering if this is possible on a pre-exsisting cape cod, as well as ticket price. The area in which he would want the vent to run through shouldn’t run up the bedroom above rather to the side. Cost is not exactly a problem but I would still like to know the cheapest route to get this but still have all components we want.