Thanks for your suggestions! The throw is a gold color. I actually took it from my living room (which is next to my family room) and the Living room is painted gold (BM Adam's Gold). Because the LR is painted a gold, I did not want to paint my Family room gold. SO...I took the bold move a painted the room chocolate brown. I like it...I looks good. The White frames really pop against the chocolate brown. On a wall that is not pictured, I want to do a wall collage of white frames with bright/fun family photos. (If anyone has suggestions for photo collages with white frames and a template, please let me know. I found one online but it was $350 for the template and 10 frames...and I am not willing to spend that much $$) We painted the wall with the TV a light blue as an accent. The TV/Entertainment center is gone. We got a new flatscreen...I am waiting for the new console. I am shopping for blue panels to add some more color/warmth. I agree with the coffee table suggestion...I will be buying a round coffee table with stools that fit underneath so that my kids have a space for eating a snack or playing a board game. Thanks again for all the suggestions and feel free to keep them coming! I will post pictures of the final product (assuming I ever finish...LOL!)

While I love painted brick, inside or out, and think the example above is yummy, it just might not be your style. Before taking such a drastic step I would do the following : replace the mantle and, if possible, have cabinet man build a nice surround. Select a paint tone in a pale golden beige or warm gray... colors that seems to be in your brick (pic is a bit small to see well). Take all off the shelves except books with nice bindings, and fill them up. One or two special accessories on one or both of the bottom shelves, perhaps. Can't see the rest of the room, but believe it might look nice to paint the walls in the same shade as the wood work. This I'd try first.

Benjesbride, what you say regarding dining/island makes sense, but unfortunately I have ~11'x16' space to fit in the kitchen. If I decide to rotate the kitchen the way you say it, then my kitchen island will be quite small. I too started out thinking of a longer island and thus came up with option 2, and am not able to find pictures to tell me if that would look ok or not. Secondly, currently the plan is that the Great Room will be mainly conversation area. TV will be in a separate room, so no need to consider TV-watchability. Mama Rachel, your idea of spice kitchen is great! That's the kitchen I started out "wanting". I had to abandon it halfway, however, because of space constraints. My whole house is ~2200 sqft, therefore allocating disproportionately large amount of space to the kitchen would have meant I gave up on some other priorities. Mama Rachel : regarding powder: we decided to ditch the powder because of the availability of full bath on that floor, which otherwise will be guest bath. We also wanted as much storage as possible, therefore decided on having a storage rather than powder. Anyway, here's the original plan. Note that we added ~5ft towards the courtyard and some square footage along top wall (which is facing backyard). I am working on sizing of the entry right now, because I think it's a bit too big for the house, but that space will NOT become available to the kitchen again due to the building rules.

Words fail me @Little Bird ! All that talent in those young little hands and minds. You can see by my Houzz icon that I have a weakness for ”fluffy animals”. I live with that one - a Papillon. She’d be an excellent subject for your daughter! My sister has an Amazon parrot that your other daughter would love! Her fish is simply amazing! Is their art done with chalk pastels or colored pencils? I have these prints in my laundry room that make me smile while fussing with laundry - found them in a cute store while on a road trip - sort of whimsical I thought. The already framed fox caught my attention so I had to get more prints to make an arrangement! They seem your one daughter’s style.