This shows the doorway between the living room and kitchen after it was reduced to being 5'4" wide. It had to be built in to enclose the air return system for the new furnace/AC. Now I actually have room for a loveseat and two end table on this wall.

Yes; that's the old loveseat nestled against the kitchen table and covered with an old sheet.

Once the contractor is finished spreading drywall dust and construction detritus all around my small living room I will paint the inside of the closet white, add the shelving units, and coerce the electrician to come back, move the outlet, and wire a small light inside the closet.

I'm coming to your remodel job cold, don't know what the plans are. Do you have a previous thread which you could give me to check it out?

Basically, it is similar to my plans for my dining room south facing wall.

Originally, I planned to have tall pantry cabinets either side of a windowseat, which would be long enough to take a nap. And, of course, two lateral file drawers beneath for low-use filing of old tax papers and appliance manuals etc.

Since my original plan, I changed my mind about the tall solid pantry cabs. Too bulky, would weight down that side of the room, and it would be confining to have that much heavy cabinet go all the way up. Of course, the storage would be great, but not the look.

So, I changed my mind. Now at either end of the window seat will be 24 x 24 base cabs with drawers. The window seat will still be long enough for a nap, with a nice 27" wide mattress thick enough to make the seat the proper height for use while dining....our normal use will be with a square table drawn up to it, but a guest could sleep there...don't want it to be too cozy or too private either....

Above the base cabs will be 2 30" x 12" deep wall cabs with glass doors matching the cabs in the kitchen which is being opened up to the dining room. We'll have a similar wide doorway from the living room as your doorway shown above. Only, I'll put 2 sets of bifold French doors to close the LR as a guest room should that be required. We don't have many overnight guests, thank heaven.

The tops of the base cabs will be the same counter material as in the kitchen, and there will be a wall outlet for each end, with LED under cab lighting there.

I'm having a wall to wall board/shelf installed across the tops of the 30" high wall cabs, and a wall plug up there in the corner so I can plug in LED rope lights on a dimmer. The switch will be close by.

So, I need to see if you plan a long window seat wall to wall with NO base cabs, or maybe just two skinny ones with wall cabs above? It should be very pretty either way. My windows have wooden plantation shutters on them, which we seldom swing open, but I do keep the louvers open because I love the light.

I see you have a privacy issue outside your large picture window, so shutters might be a nice idea....unless that shade is a blackout curtain for watching tv at night. Shutters do not block all the light.

A nice option for a blackout shade would be a TOP DOWN Roman shade, that you can leave the light coming in at the top, and simply raise the shade for as much privacy as you like. I think Lowes and Home Depot both sell such shades, and they can be lined with blackout fabric. Just a thought.

Hi MoccasinLanding; thank you so much for the comments and suggestions. I do need help!

My south wall refurbishment is almost a miniature/doll house size version of yours.

This is the south wall of my "living room" which is a long narrow room in this old, poorly planned house. But it is ours; it is paid for, and for the next several years this will be home. It's up to me to take it from homely to homey while keeping the expenditure as low as possible. We just put in a new furnace/heat pump and A/C, so "low expenditure" has entered the realm of unbelievable.

This wall is 11-ft, 10-inches wide. That's from the left side of the new closet to the far right side where the short wall starts. The ceilings are 8' tall.

The window is roughly 55" square. It's replacement will be the same size.

There are 19-inches of wall space on either side of the window so 18-inches is as wide as I can do for side cabinets.

The useable window seat width will be about 55". The only sleeper on it will be big old Harry Hounddog. I am in North Dakota; the light from this window is what gets me through the winters. It's a life saver.

I do want drawer storage under the window seat.

Would you suggest 18" wide x 24" (or 30" ?) tall x 24" deep base cabinets on each side of the 55" window seat. Then top them with 18" wide, 15" deep wall cabinets? Do you have a drawing of your ideas?

Or - should the window seat run from the closet wall to the right wall, about 90", side to side, with wall cabinets, about 15" deep and 18" wide, on either side?

Should the window seat extend out in depth more than the closet and end cabinets? The side of the closet wall is 28" deep.

If I manage to get the right size boxes, my neighbor is going to help me mock up several options.

I have a round 36" table that can sit in front of the loveseat, or I could find a smaller rectangular table, similar to the oak library table I use as a desk in the office.

This house did not have a single coat closet or a broom closet and this is the only place I could add one. My mops and brooms have been hanging on nails on the only open (tiny) wall in the kitchen. The vac has been in the walkway of the small mudroom. The two table leaves must be stored flat; they've been taking up valuable space in our small bedroom closet. Now with this closet I will have room for so many homeless but needed items in my house.

Here's a picture the opposite, north wall. It will hold a buffet-type TV cabinet and two bookshelves. The big window is being replaced, too.

The hole in the north wall held a no-longer-used air vent. It has been patched. The 60+ year old floor has just been refinished. I do love it.

The room is 21-ft long from the north wall to the front of the new closet. The front door is on the right with a direct path to the kitchen, so the "useable" living room area is about 11'10"x17'. The arched doorway opens to the short hall leading to the bathroom, Bedroom 1 (my sewing room) and Bedroom 2, our office/library/den.

Rather than make a new post; I'm bumping this one up to show the "Almost After." I hope this is not breaking any major rules!

I've nixed the idea of a window seat. After two agonizing years of installing a new furnace (heat pump and A/C), refinishing the floor, new ductwork, window replacements, a contractor leaving us high and dry for months and scurrying to find a new one as snow was coming in through the unfinished windows....

But I digress. Here's the room and closet as it is now. It's not finished yet; but it is useable.

The table will be moved back into the kitchen and then to the four seasons porch once that work is finished.

I will have either a long, padded bench, going wall-to-wall and skinny table in the "niche" area; or I'll have two wing/arm chairs with a round table between them. I won't be adding the planned tall cabinets to either side of the window; it would just be too visibly "cluttered

The closet is a Godsend! It's everything I had planned and hoped for - and more.

And I see I need brown glides on the chair legs!

The other (north) end of the room, the actually "living room area" will be fit for publication a bit later.

There is a second white wood shelf above this one shown with a table leaf and tablecloths stored on it..

The second table leaf and board games are on the very top shelf. It's easy to get the leaf down; it just can't be seen from this angle.

I explained the closet, in excruciating detail, on the Organizing the Home forum.

Wow, it looks so nice! I love the space in your closet. Is there room for coats in front of the shelves?