Virgil - sectional corners are awesome! One of my former coworkers referred to them as the corner of power, over which she and her husband constantly argued (as did my brother and I growing up). That said, we switched from a sectional to separate sofas and chairs in our living room and haven't regretted it once (though the old sectional relocated to a new happy home in the den). As for the original questions, yes to a 42" door (I agree the bigger the better, especially for moving that sectional in :-) ). Personally, I strongly prefer furniture floated in the room v. up against a wall, particularly in an open floor plan. It just looks more thought out and finished to me. I'd agree with htwo that the major complication comes from small children - my five year old daughter loves to play mountain climber and scale the back of the couch - I've lost count of the number of times we've talked about why that's not the brilliant idea she thinks it is. And on kitchens, I think you need to think about how much you (or someone in your house cooks). Those who say they prioritize aesthetics over function probably aren't cooking multiple times every day. If you are, function starts to look a lot more important. Our kitchen is less-than-ideal functionally and it drives me nuts - one of the great things about building is going to be getting to design an kitchen that's fun to cook in.

damiarain: We use the nook just for group milling, and often flip the counter stools that live at the kitchen peninsula over to the counter on the pony wall... this works well for parties or TV viewing or casual just-us dinners... or laying out a buffet or appetizers. But I've always thought it was a waste of space... it's not a very big area though... not big enough for furniture other than stools. But the pony wall and the multiple entrances really break up the space. We were not planning on changing kitchen layout. It works well, just needs a serious cosmetic facelift... too beige & faux-Tuscan. I prefer contemporary and clean lines. Also the travertine floor tiles are super cold in the winter. So we'll install hardwood floors that match the rest of the 1st floor. I'm trying to talk my husband into painting the cabinetry (which we'll keep) but so far he loves the wood look. The bay windows are 22" from the ground on the inside. We can't extend the FR to include some of living room. These rooms are on opposite sides of the kitchen so not contiguous at all. Did you mean the nook area? The FR is sunken because of the dropped ceiling. so it's hard to integrate with / extend into anything else. The LR is a wonderful room in the front of the house with great light... somewhat of a large formal LR which is less practical these days but it's a very sweet space that looks out onto the view. We always try to move guests into that room but everyone congregates in the kitchen/nook area! Swapping the FR and DR is an interesting idea though I think the DR is too small for a FR... it's narrow, opens up to the LR and is dark. You couldn't watch TV in there, as no wall is far enough away for viewing... my husband LOVES his TV;) But it would likely make a really nice kitchen.

Window treatment for sure! A console & a seating bench for entranceway. May be a small partition to separate view of dining for strangers from entrance door. A conversation, reading area maybe with comfortable seating. Cozy rug underneath! A pendant above dining for that dinner ambience... A plant or two to brighten up the space. It will all fall in place, one thing at a time. Eventually you can add some wall art, DIY or from your travels or antique markets..

Thank you @everdebz! I’m new to the site so haven’t added any idea boards yet. I am actually going for a brighter look. Mix of contemporary/French/farmhouse. We will be renovating that living room you see from the foyer and it will have hardwood floors. We are not renovating the foyer but would like to tie in these styles. Kitchen and mud room on the side of the house will have these color schemes: