wow, thanks for all the help! I can see that the different adjacent woods look good in your posted pictures only because they are quite differentn from each other, not sure that I want to go too light on the new wood because it would be to "blendy" with the white cabinets. A border is an interesting idea but my kitchen might be too small to be able to pull that off, I have an approx 10 x 13 U shaped kitchen with an adjacent 10 x 8 breakfast area. I appreciate the comments to consider that the lighting in the kitchen might be quite different from the hallway. That is true but I did not think of the hallway as being dark until we had the flooring changed and it surprised me how much darker it was after the flooring change. I'm going to find some dark brown tarps to put on the kitchen floor and see what that feels like. thank you!

Hi, Rockvillegardener. Regarding the outside if you take out the door: Fairly well matching brick OR wood panel painted to match, then plant your favorite dependable evergreen in front of it. Your name suggests you'd have no trouble with that. I agree there is no social substitute for a table a family can gather around each day, and I agree you're wise to protect a proper dining area for family life. One that's pleasant and gracious, not a constant conflict of feet and chair and stool legs whose cramped effect makes all the surrounding spaces feel somewhat cramped. Everyone understands the desire to be able to line the kids up at the kitchen. Would thinking in terms of FLEXIBILITY for the future help? You apparently have 3 kids for whom Mom is still the center of the universe, or at least capable of directing them to those stools routinely. That won't be the case forever. For instance, could you make a deep peninsula temporary (and put a 48" round table in a corner of the living room, say)? As in standard depth cabinets firmly within the old kitchen footprint, with an extra-deep top that could be replaced when your kids were older? And/or movable? Run flooring under and buy extra so it could be removed, and be delicate with the bolting down? Note that I'm wondering about relabeling spaces, either temporarily adequately or permanently well, while always still making a nice area to gather for meals a priority. Any possibilities?

Thank you. It’s hard to find a floor that is equally appropriate for kitchen, family/dining room AND more formal sunken living room. I can see my way to doing the same floor for two rooms, but not the living room. If I raise the sunken floor, can i carpet it even though it touches the family room floor.? Or will it be tacky To have carpet with transition to floor?

No I don't think you need to get a shorter table unless the one you have is wider than usual (most tables are 3-3.5' wide). I don't think the length is the issue in that room, it's the width. You can just get a bench instead of chairs on that side. Your table is probably 6' long or so, right? Then it will still fit in the dining room. You may want to play around with just putting chairs on 2 sides instead of 3 and pushing it more towards the corner to avoid encroaching on the living room space. 6'+3' = 9' so you'd have 1' to spare. If you want to share some space with the living room you could put seating on both sides.