I would like to see even more of the existing layout and how the different levels relate to each other ... to pool, 'down' to game room, 'up' to bedroom, to garage, etc. Is the pool on the same level as the existing kitchen ? Is it right by the house or across the yard ? Is there any type of patio, covered porch, or deck off of the back of the house now ? Where does the driveway run - do guests park by the front door and come in that way, or does driveway have them parking by the garage entry ? Do the stairs at the front door go up ? Up to what ? Where does the door go under the stairs at the end ? Also, what are the dimensions of your existing furniture and any appliances you will be re-using ? What about items you are planning to purchase ? I am concerned that you may not be allowing enough room for clearance around your breakfast table because I do not know it's dimensions. Take the size of your table and add a minimum of 36" on all 4 sides just to edge/slide past or scoot around seated diners. You need 44" on the sides to allow someone to walk past a seated diner. In other words, if your table is 42"x60" and you add 36" to each side, you need a minimum of 9'6"x11'0" totally clear area just to scoot around seated diners. I am thinking something totally different than the plans you have shown. To get you thinking outside the box . . . . How about if you carve a niche out of the existing LR for a more formal entry with walls and doorways so the first thing a guest sees when they walk in the home is not the mess in the kitchen. Use the current Piano room as the family room overlooking the pool area. Put the baby grand in the current dining room and the dining table where the butler is currently. The table will run long ways from the front of the house to the rear. Open this new baby grand/dining space up as much as possible into one long room or, even better IMO ... depending on the size of your dining table, move the wall a couple feet so that the new dining end is longer and the baby grand end is smaller and they are separated by a wall with a wide doorway or arched opening. If the new dining space was 11x15 or 11x16 instead of 11x13, you could easily have a dining table 4x7 that would seat 8 and have room to pass around the end of the table to the doorway into the new family room. I imagine the new baby grand room to house the piano and some limited seating. A much better view when a guest first walks into the house. : ) Where you currently have the living room, it will now be somewhat smaller because of losing space to the foyer. Use the old living space for a combination keeping room with breakfast, desk/homework, sitting room space. The remainder of the current living room along with the current kitchen/breakfast will be the new kitchen. In my experience, most people congregate around the kitchen at parties and gatherings. This layout would make the kitchen and keeping room one big space which would be a great area for entertaining. Between the new kitchen and the new dining room (old butlers) will be a wet bar and storage space similar to what you have shown on option B. Be sure to also carve out room for a coat closet, vacuum storage, toys storage, and a designated space where mail/bags/junk, etc can land very close to the garage entry (but be easily hidden by cabinet doors or something if someone comes over). Depending on the pool and patio location, it could be nice to turn the double windows at the end of the of the old butler/new dining into French doors opening onto the patio. It could also be very nice if this was opening to a covered Lanai or screened porch.

I'd put the three-seat sofa up against the wall (facing the TV) and the two-seat sofa where the three seater is now. In other words, just reverse the sofas and move everything to the left, so that the large sofa is against the wall. If you want to use your laptops there, I'd move the glass table and use it for the TV and components, and use the ottoman as a "coffee table" on which to put your feet when using your laptops. Get a second, somewhat larger, ottoman to put in front of the larger sofa, so that each sofa has an ottoman on which to rest feet and which is reachable from all seats of the sofa. Breakfast nook, I'd reverse the cabinets you've got, put the small cab and mirror where the tall cab is, and the tall where the small and mirror are now.

We have an open layout kitchen with an island and then the dining room with living room. We are in the process of putting tiles 6x24 wood look. Our contractor told us the tiles have To face the window. But then the tiles would not be parallel to the kitchen cabinets. Also, our cabinets have lines as well. Not sure if it matters. Then the tiles will match the layout floor in the dining. But is there a rule of thumb which way to lay tiles vertical or horizontal? Thank you!

The difference between these tiles and the Gucci purse from TJ Maxx is that you only buy one purse and it's not that noticeable if there are a few things "off" about it, because it's just hanging from your arm/shoulder and moving and not the focus of the outfit. The tile, if they are seconds, means that they are ALL a little off, and when you lay them all down next to each other, the small differences will all become magnified and more noticeable. And they will all be off in different ways. Tile is one of those things that, unless it is a really rustic, handmade style, is MEANT to be uniform, and you are guaranteeing that what you get will not be uniform. Additionally, the only tile installers that will install it will be either the extreme pro, who will charge extra for the labor needed to make it look ok (note, it will not look great, just ok) or the tile setter with very little experience or very low standards who doesn't understand the challenges these tiles represent. He will say "sure, I can lay those tiles, it will look fine" and then when you complain about the installation he will tell you that the tiles are the problem and you should have expected the result. Go read some threads about bad tile installations (most of them are bathrooms or backsplashes, but the concept is the same) and you will realize that you don't want to go down the road of having cheap tiles and an less-than-expert tile installer.