Lavender, thanks for the advice, and we really have taken everything into consideration. It has been two months since I posted my first version of our plan, and there was a month I was silent while trying to figure out a way to make it work with the kitchen in the back. There are two alternatives we considered and below is the thought process we went through while making a decision. For each I put together an inspiration board of photos and in the end we decided the kitchen in the front was the best plan for us. 1. Place the kitchen in the back to the right of the dining room (or flip the room) keeping the living/dining room as is. Summerfield did a plan for us with the kitchen in the back, and we seiously considered it as it is a wonderful plan, however that setup had different draw backs. In Summerfield's plan we didn't like the kitchen was more closed off. While if it is opened up then the room feels too long and narrow and we lost the feeling of width created by having windows on both sides. 2. Dining room near the entry, the kitchen in the back with the great room. This allows for a smaller dining room since it isn't balancing out the space with great room and kitchen and allows for more light moving across the house. I like this set up in larger homes with a seperation between formal public areas and private informal areas, however that isn't the way we actually live. For us, putting the kitchen next to the great room and moving the dining room to the front makes everything feel to informal and I hate the competition between the TV and the kitchen. For the plan I posted, with the kitchen in the front, we measured it all out to make certain the space works and moved our own furniture around to see how it would feel. The icing on the cake, on Memorial day weekend we rented a huge home with friends in wine country that had a similar main room layout (only much larger), and it really solidified that we love this floor plan. We actually measured it all out in the rental to see how our plan fits and it really helped us visualize it. We love being able to enjoy both our front and back views/light/breezes, that the living/dining spaces are together, and that the kitchen is at once part of the space and at the same time seperate. All that said, if the new designer (or Summerfield) comes up with a great idea that is different to what we have outlined we are open minded, I just don't see how it would work more effectively. Also, writing out everything here has helped relieve some of my own anxiety about this plan and gain some more confidence in our decisions. It is "different" and I've been worried about that, but it is what works for us, and it isn't so diferent that we need to worry about resale value.

Here are a few I found online. I don't know any of the price points other than the Ethan Allen, as it was listed. I don't know what your budget is either. Are you going to have any other furniture in your room other than the table? A 12x13 room with a 60" table + 6 chairs + buffet or anything else is going to be a really tight squeeze. You generally want to leave a minimum of 2-3' of floor space between the outside of the dining chairs and any other furniture for traffic. If the table is the only thing in your DR, than you'll have plenty of space. If you are wanting to add anything else, your guests will have a really tight squeeze getting in & out of their seats. My DR is 13'6"x17" and I have ruled out a 60" table, which is what I really wanted. With the table, chairs, & buffet, it would be a really cluttered room. Here is a link that gives some good tips on room planning, scale of furniture, minimum space requirements, etc. http://www.myspacedesigners.com/dining-room-furniture.php Hope this helps. http://www.mgbwhome.com/nadia_rdin.asp http://www.mgbwhome.com/cedric_dnt.asp http://www.bernhardt.com/itemDetail.php?itemid=312-272,%20312-273 http://www.bernhardt.com/itemDetail.php?itemid=317-272,%20317-273 http://www.ethanallen.com/product?productId=1005&categoryId=8336 http://www.bernhardt.com/marthastewartfurniture/item.php?COL=Lily%20Pond&ITEM=2040&CAT=Dining%20Room&SUBCAT=Tables&CATABR=DR&VIEW=nocol

Thank you everyone!!. I can move the mirror on the other wall in the room. I would like to keep the mirror in the same room, as I had it custom made for this room. I just received this painting today, I still need to stretch it onto canvas or frame it. I was going to hang it in my guest bedroom, but it may look nice here. It is long and narrow (24x48") so it may work here. I have moved the mirror onto the other wall in the room. I can add other art work or maybe glass plates or something around the mirror, so it doesnt look too lonely and small on that wall. @tibbrix, I do like the idea of painting the wall, we will have to wait for next year otherwise our warranty gets void. thanks!, Cooks.

Ok I'm convinced to a 60" round, hopefully with drop in leafs for extra seating. I spoke with the table maker today and he's on vaca until Saturday so we'll touch base early next week and finalize plan/start the actual build. After all the recommendations I'm thinking too that I'll only purchase 6 of the chairs and use my existing wooden ones for extras. We aren't big entertainers and would mostly have just another couple to host but this will provide a slightly more cost effective solution for when we do entertain more. @maggieq & @cyn427 @jjam - thanks for the chair info! Yikes about the experience with the Hudson chairs, esp for how pricey they are! I've heard such mixed reviews about the overall quality of RH, either wonderful or awful, but I've been coveting the Martine for so long that I'm cautiously willing to give them a try... And hope at worst I could have them brought to a re-upholsterer for future modification over buying fresh set at that time. Thanks again everyone, this has been Hugely helpful! :-)