A few years ago, we did a major renovation, which involved moving internal walls, new kitchen, new roof, new foundation.... in short, a new house on one side. Phase two of the project is to tackle the other side of the house and in the next couple of weeks, our builder will start with the family room.

I think this room is really going to be fun and I'd love your help in making it fabulous!

Here's an updated drawing of the room with existing furniture:

Current view from front hall; ceiling slopes down at window wall, gives claustrophobic feeling.

We're tearing down this external window wall, raising the ceiling, and replacing with the same picture windows we added in the front of the house. We have a full attic upstairs (the house is a Cape), so we'll take a little bit of the space and go from 8' ceilings to 9' ceilings, with 12' cathedral ceiling in the middle.

Here's the window(s) we will be putting in (same size):

Looking towards the front hall:

I know the exercise bike has to go but I love having it here! In the mornings, I ride with my ipad; great way to multi task.

We're going to be removing the bead board. I found this rather claustrophobic as well and much prefer the molding we've put in the new areas of the house.

We don't use this fireplace at all, but will eventually convert to gas. (There's another fireplace in the kitchen right behind this one, hence the angle). My thinking is to tile it all the way to the ceiling, leaving the hand-hewn timber frame mantle in place.

Here's a quick, rough photoshop using the tile I have in mind. Remember that the ceiling will be a foot taller. Initial thinking is that step/seat will be tiled in place.

Ugly TV set up; I don't have a clue how to improve.

Here's a shot of the trim work we'll add:

I'd like help with:

1) Planning the tile for the fireplace. How wide do I go? Different trim tile? This will be my starting point for decorating the new room; everything will be planned to coordinate with the tile. (kj Patterson, custom colors).

2) Furniture suggestions, furniture arrangement, TV placement.

3) Ideas for improvements / suggestions appreciated. With three door ways, there's a lot of traffic going through this room, and furniture arrangements are limited.

Thanks! --oldbat2be

This post was edited by oldbat2be on Sat, Aug 10, 13 at 14:17