I realize this would mean moving the connections, but we did it in our house, and the cable company charge was minimal, and because they were able to go through the crawl space, it was not a big deal. I agree that the armoire and the mirror on the other side are both fighting with the fireplace for attention. I would be inclined to move the armoire to the wall where the console table and round mirror are now. That area isn't really great for much else, because you have the doorway to the outside right there, so your traffic pattern has to stay open. That wall is large enough to handle the armoire flat against it, without overwhelming the wall space. It is hard to play with layouts, because depth and size can be hard to judge in a flat picture. I have a couple of options once the tv is moved. The first would be to place the couch on a diagonal from the fireplace to the window wall. I am not crazy about the couch against that half wall - it feels kind of like looking a someone who has on an overcoat and shorts - you don't really know what behind the couch because it is completely hidden, and takes away from the interest that the half-wall creates. Coffee table in front of the couch, and a great floor lamp behind it. The demilune cabinet might be nice on the wall to the right of the fireplace, with an art grouping over it and a small lamp. I would then put the two matching chairs on the half wall with a table between them and a lamp. The beige chair and ottoman could then be angled with the back of the chair to the corner where the small demilune cabinet is now. Move the console table and the arched mirror to the wall to the left of the doorway at the end of the room opposite the fireplace, which will balance the armoire on the other side. I did think about the option of filling in the half wall, and honestly I think that would be a great place for the tv. But that becomes a much more expensive alternative. What you could do there, rather than filling it in with a wall, is to put in a grid that creates a feeling of a window matching the opposite wall of windows. Putting the armoire up against that would work, as it would break up the view of the back of the armoire. One other alternative, tho I don't know how viable it is, would be to buy a flatscreen tv and have a lift installed in that half-wall, so that you could bring the tv up to watch when desired, and then lower it the rest of the time. Then the armoire could still go on that end wall, but the placement of the furniture in the room wouldn't have to be in relation to the piece. Once you rearrange the room, you may want to turn the rug 90 degrees to match the furniture layout. It is a lovely home - enjoy it, and don't let it drive you too crazy.

Ms222 Oh my, what a great house on the water. You love modern...really nice table and chairs. If you go all modern and plan on keeping the same kitchen floor plan you will have to replace all the doors top and bottom, eliminate the two short staggered cabinets on top and add cabinets in their place on the same line as the others. Eliminate the upper moldings style and backsplash; the countertop would work fine as is. Eliminate the chair rails and replace all interior doors. I would paint your walls in a flat paint and see how you like it and then decide when or if to eliminate the texture. When I painted my son's textured walls in Behr porpoise gray flat paint we had to touch the walls to even know the texture was there. However, it's hard to see how much texture you have in your pictures and we don't know if there is texture behind the chair rails. Anyway, after all that you'll have a good start on transforming it all to a completely different look. I know it might seem overwhelming but once you get a start on it it will be fun. I almost envy you because I'm a gal who needs projects and mayhem; I'm in limbo now just fixing things up to sell for a future downsize. Not fun! In my next house I'm hoping to do a completely different style. I want to buy the little stinky 60's house across the street from the waterfront mansions. Then I plan on becoming their very bestest friend and ride around in their yacht lol. Jill, please post after you go to the NY store and tell us of the quality. I have never actually touched Lillian August furniture. I really love so many things on the online site though and like the fact that there are a few things in my price range. Of course all the sofa's and chairs I really love are at the highest prices... boo Looking forward to your report!

Whooooaaaahhhhh, to quote Keanu Reeves. I would LOVE that...but our ceilings are only 96". Insert frowny-face emoticon here. Waiting for ModernAire to open in CA so we can call. Here's my dilemma. PLEASE help me solve it so I can have this hood. We can use an 8" duct for this. MA said it will affect performance at the higher speeds, but with 1200 cfm already overengineered, I can live with that. That means we can fit it into a 10"-high soffit. The hood is 18" and the range is 36", which means the bottom of the hood will sit only 32" above the range. It's 24" deep, which I think is okay since the Lacanche juts out past 24" (28.25" is the depth with the spacer, I think). Is 32" too low? I asked the GC the other day about minimum clearances and he said that it's a minimum of 36". So today when we discussed this and I asked him to talk to the fire inspector before I order, he said that if it doesn't work, we'll figure it out later. Ummm, no. Oooh, good news...I'm on the phone with DH, who just talked to MA and they can make it 14" high instead of 18", which means the bottom will be at 36" so we should be okay. Now...I know that it's better to have the hood extend over the sides for max capture. The range is almost 40" wide. We were planning to order the 48" but I'm wondering how often I'm going to smack my head into the corner of the hood. Should I order the 40" instead?

You say that you sense the smell mostly in the air. Is it possible that this particular area is just an area where other household odors accumulate? We have two such areas in our house, where odors will collect and linger- one is in a central area in the entryway, the other is in a bathroom that is in a back corner. One of those I can see having limited air circulation, but the first seems like odors would move through quickly, yet they don't and odors from other parts of the house will essentially leave those parts of the house and collect in these. I was just wondering if it was possible that the smell is coming from elsewhere (say a nearby bathroom or laundry room?) and is hanging there? What happens if you put a small fan in that area later in the day? Would the smell still be in that area with the fan on or off? The other thing that comes to my mind is bed linens- particularly any down or feather product. I've had issues on occasion with these getting funny/smelly odors that come and go, and it's very hard to pinpoint the issue, even when smelling the comforter or pillow directly. It's only by removing the item from the area/house for a little while, that we were able to pinpoint exactly what it was. I've noticed this problem more when the humidity is higher and it was worse later in the day when temperatures in the house had increased, and like I said, it smells fine some of the time and then other times there is a weird funk. I hope you can find the source. It sounds very annoying.