I posted this already and who knows where it is, but it's a crazy non-sequitor in someone's thread. And you probably saw these anyway. Here is a jib thanks to chijim and Arch. Digest. You can see it, but all this says is "THIS door isn't as important as the others". I have seen Obvious jib doors in dining rooms that said "The Servants Come in through here, You Don't". Speaking of Dining Rooms. See the columns here. Notice the wall thickness. Notice also that they ranked the orders, with lower order on the pilaster and higher order on the full column: This dining room would only be improved by DeGournay grisaille paper with the figures in color. That would be On Crack. Please do a scenic in your dining room. It would only add another $20K to $50K to the budget. What bugs me in this picture is the "smoke" coming out of the mirror over the mantle.

Hello fellow Tri-leveler!! Ours opens into the LR, too. You come in the front door and the room flows from your right. We have an oriental runner that flows from the front door to the kitchen doorway straight ahead. There is an antique chest of drawers centered on the lefthand wall that has a lamp and a changing display of decorative stuff. There is another oriental in the LR area with bare hardwood floor between the edge of the runner and the larger area one. There is a comfortable wingback chair anchoring each of the two ends of the rug. The sofa is against the far righthand (house end) wall. The wing chairs face the sofa at an angle. Since the room is not huge, the space in the middle of the room is not "lost" looking and the pattern of the oriental can be seen. Under the large pic window is a low ancient wash bench that can be used as additional seating if needed. There are usually a few plants parked here along w/ current reading materials. On the inside wall across from the pic window is a large secretary that is closed when I am not using it as my desk. There is an old chair parked here that can be angled to either wing chair or turned to the sofa... wherever conversation takes place. The arrangement works as a "foyer" because the runner acts as a "hallway" of sorts leading you to the kitchen or the stairs. The backs of the chairs (at angles) helps guide you along the "hall". The opening between the chairs acts as the enterance to the actual LR. The hardwood floor showing between the runner and the larger area one also helps seperate the two areas. I love the open-ness of this space. One fellow tri neighbor actually built a real wall w/ a cased opening into his LR. I hate it! His foyer is a dark tunnel and feels tight and cramped. He lost all the beautiful light coming in from his pic window. I go home and walk thru my front door and feel so relaxed. Part of the reason our arrangement works is that all the furniture fits the scale of the room. The sofa and chairs are of a smaller rather than a massive scale. There is a mix of open legs (chairs, side table, washbench) and solids (secretary base and skirted sofa). It's not a lot of LITTLE pieces (which can be way too busy), but it's not under or over filled w/ too large of pieces. I believe scale is huge in the overall comfort and function of a room. This can be hard to do in our tighter Tri's and Quad's. I think that screens and sofa backs have their places... but to me they are too massive and dismissive feeling. Too solid. Perhaps try something like we have done and see if that helps you achive the desired effect. Sorry that I can't post pics!

The closet in my master is 29 inches deep. Then I have 3 other closets upstairs like this in my sons' rooms and the guest rooms. Those closets are 22, 23, and 24 inches deep. I'm standing in front of them now and thinking that if I had shelves on the sides and a bar across connecting them....well, if they were jammed packed like I have some of these closets then it might be annoying trying to move past the hangers to reach the shelves. It depends on how much stuff is in there. Looking at it now, I think I have actual "dead space" above my bar. There is so much room between the shelf above the bar and the ceiling that if I was to change my closet right now I might just keep the bar across and add cubbies above the bar for my bulky sweaters. I really don't find reaching into the side space to be that annoying. I noticed in my husbands closet he has his suits in the side space. He only wears suits at weddings and funerals. He also keeps the ironing board in there. We don't iron often. Apparently I never do bc I just now learned that's where we keep it. Lol. I don't think that little bit of "wasted space" is worth such a huge overhaul. As long as it's lit well and the doors are good (I can't say enough how much of a difference it was going from sliders and bifold doors in my last house to doors that swing open). And we have good lighting in the closet which makes it easier to see all the way into the side space. For the record, I hang 90% of my clothes. I only fold sweaters and undergarments. So having just hanging bar isn't so bad for me.

bout trashing the perfectly functional old hangars simply because they don't match each other. Goodwill always need hangers. Maybe donating them would alleviate your guilt. Personally, I ended up going with BLUE plastic hangers. Anyway, at 18 hangers for $1.49 (on sale), if I decide to ditch the blue, I can forgive myself. I think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't love those Huggable Hangers, and I decided that the goal was matching hangers, not fancy hangers. On the shelf with the mirror, perhaps a vase, or as someone suggested, a small decorative tray to capture favorite earrings or bracelets. I bet the OP has something sitting around the house that'd work. A small mismatched dish of some sort. People are recommending wicker baskets but I've had bad luck with this type as it snagged on a few items. I love wicker baskets and haven't really had a problem with snagging ... but, if your mileage varies, you can always line the baskets. On the top shelves, even though it isn't pretty I'd have to go with clear plastic boxes. I'm definitely out-of-sight-out-of-mind, so if I can't see it, it ain't there lol. Being very short, the top shelf isn't for everyday stuff for me! I have a box up top for "travel stuff", which contains toiletry bags and unique stuff you only use on vacation ... for example, an around-the-neck security bag for keeping your passport close in airports and another around-the-neck thing for carrying your money /phone while you're in the water at the beach, a pretty cloth bag for packing jewelry, clips that attach your beach towels to your lounge chair. I can't remember what else, but those are things I don't need daily. Oh, water shoes -- mine and my husband's. We only use them on vacation, so they don't deserve one of the limited spaces in my daily shoe area. I also have a box up top for fancy dresses. I don't wear them often, so they're folded gently into white tissue paper ... and they don't take up space in my small closet. Some of my boxes are ... I'm ashamed to admit it ... Big Bo boxes from Bojangles. They're really solid construction and can hold a great deal. I covered them with duct tape to make them pretty. I'm thinking that when we move to the new house I'm going to get pretty wicker baskets for the top close shelf /downgrade the Bojangles boxes to craft storage. Will huggable hangers work for my husbands suits and sports coats? They take up so much room! No, they're shirt-sized. So I organized by color but seems so unnatural to me because I have typically aborted my clothes by casual/dress wear etc. thoughts everyone? I am going to get the thinner hangers too. Do you think I should hang the rod a bit lower since I’m short? I agree ... organizing by color doesn't seem right to me. I organize by season /style. That is, all my short-sleeved shirts are together ... then all my long-sleeved shirts ... then all my dresses /casuals to one side and dressier to the other side. On the shelves, thin summer sweaters to one side and thicker winter sweaters to the other side. Can you reach the rod comfortably? If so, I'd leave it where it is and use the shelve underneath for storage ... dressy shoes? Folded jeans?