I agree with nosoccermom about rethinking the no-wood-in-the-kitchen decision. However, I disagree about them never being really clean. You can keep them as clean as any other floor if you remember that wood hides a lot of dirt so they won't necessarily look as dirty as another type of flooring. I only use a damp cloth to clean mine and it's no more trouble than when I had vile white Pergo. I've had my wood floors for 6 years and the tiny scratches or dings they've incurred just don't show enough to care. On the plus side, since you have an open space (as I do) the same flooring throughout gives a clean, open flow.

I would make the move. The reason to have both a family room and a living room is so that you have a quiet spot, maybe a more formal spot, for the adults, and a noisier spot with the TV and other entertainment for the family to enjoy together. Having them open to one another defeats this. They are often on opposite ends of the downstairs. My living room is off the foyer. Oddly, my foyer leads to the bedrooms straight ahead. Another hall that intersects the hall that leads to the bedrooms leads to the kitchen, which is behind the front-facing garage. Our family room is behind the kitchen. So our kitchen, family room, half-bath, and laundry room are clustered together behind the garage. Our three bedrooms and main bath are clustered together at the end of the hall that leads from the foyer. The living room is all by itself, next to the front door and foyer. Our living room and family room are as far apart as two rooms can get and still be in this house. Will you put a door on that 40" opening into the entertainment/family room? A door will help keep those in the living room and office (and guest bedroom down the hall) from having to hear the TV, but also will make monitoring the activities in that room more difficult. If you want a door there to keep the kids corralled while they are toddlers, you might consider a dutch door, where you may close the bottom half of the door, but leave the top half open. That way, if one of you is in the family room with the kids, the other in the office or living room, you can still talk between the two rooms, but the toddlers can't toddle out of their play space. Do you and your spouse now sit in the living room or the family room while the children are playing? Will you both be joining the kids in the newly closed off room? If not, that means less together time. That right there is the biggest concern I have. You do not want to decrease your time together. If putting up a wall between the two rooms puts up a wall between the two of you, don't do it. If you do put up the wall, I would add a nice big tree in the sunny corner of the living room on the right side of your photo, then a nice large art piece or a triptych of tall panels in the center of the wall will fill in well. The triptych follows the theme you have in the hall with the three brick art pieces. I hope others come along with ideas for you. Be sure and let us know what you decide.

We had a knee wall divider similar to yours. Nice to divide the areas, but I always thought it was a waste of space. Our kitchen renovation (currently in the midst) will turn it into a two-sided bookcase, wider than the old knee wall. It will have a granite top, to match counters. The old knee wall was always a catchall place for keys, etc., and I'm sure the new divider will be, too. Granite top will take more abuse than wood. Ours is 66" long x 42" high x 24" deep. Kitchen side will house cookbooks, FR side will hold other books. Although we recently got rid of at least 8 cartons of books, we still have tons left (we are real bibliophiles, even tho' we both have Kindles now). This bookcase divider will be installed with other kitchen cabinetry Monday (two days away!) so I won't be able to post pix until after that. I think your idea is good, too, with a mix of open shelves & cabinets. I wish I had thought of a cell phone charge area. If you had an outlet running just below the top edge -- or wired through the middle & to the shelf, it could def work.

Great idea about the foamcore Kippy, that would be fabulous and so much easier than painting. I'll give that some thought. I need to get bold, there are so many amazing paints out there. Everytime I go to Home Depot, there is a new line of metalic spray paints. jlc712, I think that the bookcase is where I can make the next biggest impact in the room. I hate to get rid of our beloved Little House on the Prairie set, but if I find a niece to send it too, that will make the parting a little sweeter. Maybe if I thin out some movies I can store books below in the cupboard. My audiophile husband loves his sound equipment, however. To think, I can't turn half of it on! Great idea about the calendars. Clever and budget-savvy. So hard to throw away those beautiful calendar pictures. I've got to put 9 frames of something above the fireplace. That wreath comes down this weekend, its the Feast of the Presentation so the time has come. Maybe I'll find 9 pictures of the Blessed Mother to frame. There is an endless number of painting of her, and I could gaze at those forever. Of course, my husband would want pictures of National Parks, so I guess I've got a lot of thinking to do. Tibbrix, you are right, this big room needs big furniture. The coffee table is 48" and the sofas are 72" so it gives a foot on each side to sit. Remember, we walk behind the sofas, in front of them, beside them AND we chase Captain around the room! It's really a dog run, I guess. I would have loved to buy large English-arm three cushion sofas and lovely accent chairs, but it's the fact that we move the loveseats (sometimes daily) to watch television or play video games. I know this seems crazy. We only have one functional TV. With seven kids on board (well one is gone but we still have her bedroom that she shares with a sister), all of our rooms are full of kids. I figure that when the time comes to change the furniture once again, I have seven people who would love free sofas. ; ) Need to work on paint, don't have a budget for that now. Thank you so much for your thoughtful replies. It means so much to hear your opinions. -Cupofkindness