Jmc, I think sq. footage plays a large role in how we use a room and what we choose to name it. I'm finally understanding "The Great Room" name if it's based on being centered in an open floor plan. But it's still a plain old living room. To me, Great Room implies a large room. It just doesn't make sense to call an average size room a Great Room. lol. I'm just glad the majority of people here still say LR. When we built on and remodeled, we deliberately made the LR large so it could be a fun and functional room not only to entertain in, but also used as a multi-purpose room. We can do our own thing together and still have our own space. It doesn't bother me at all if someone's watching TV and I'm doing something else. We added a 3 walled book nook w/built-in's and a window, which is a smallish room off the LR. The LR also has a very large cooking FP, large closet in the back of the room with built-in's. One side of the closet was custom made for the Christmas tree and decortions, including wrapping paper. :) The front half of the room has the sofa, chairs, coffee tables. The sofa is in the center of the room facing the FP and TV. FP is in the corner. A sofa table behind the sofa "divides" the room. The back of the room which is just as large as the front half holds a large, round Persian rug with a wood dining table and chairs in the center, aka "Game table." I do many tasks on that table. Great place to wrap presents and watch TV! We have another seating arrangement in the back of the room along with a writing desk and chair. I love sitting there paying bills and looking out the window towards the creek and road. There are 16 places in the LR for people to sit and not be crowded, and plenty of space to bring in extra chairs. My room is merely a living room. There are 2 large areas to put pallets down if we wanted to lay on the floor. Which we've done many times. There are two offices in the house. Saturday night another couple spent the night, the men in the LR playing guitars and watching movies. My friend and I got on the computers and watched TV. We had so much fun I got one hour of sleep! So we do have different areas of the house to play in.

Thanks to Teacats and Lavender_lass I've just now realized that the position of the fireplace opening would be perfect to watch a fire while sitting at a table. Perhaps it was the architect's intent for the room! The room is small and could indeed support only compact (e.g. slim-line) furniture. I have a vision of a "laptop" room in my mind now. A place to retreat to with a laptop - surf the Net, pay bills, answer emails, while enjoying a cozy fire in the FP. Suero is so right about the prevalence of electronics in our lives. In fact, my DS, who's in high school, and his friends barely watch TV. It's all about laptops and IPads for them: do homework, play online games, chat on Facebook, watch movies on Netflix and Hulu, and cartoons on Funimation - you name it. Every time DS has his friends come over, everyone brings his laptop or IPad! Perhaps the true challenge is to find the right arrangement that meets FP owner's tastes and needs but gives just the right acknowledgment to the FP as Marcolo noted. Love Pal's example: the elegant FP gets to be seen, but it doesn't dominate the room. But I also love Monicakm picture: it's so cozy and charming! Some people love fireplaces, use them regularly and decorate around them, some others view them as an useful utility but not as a main decor feature, and some others consider FPs a liability. I have the same issue with my heatilator FP as AnneDeighnaugh. When it's in use, it's too hot to be near it. The optimal distance from it is about 5 to 6 ft, so placing the seating in the center works just right. My in-laws' FP would probably be very easy to downplay if there's no desire to use it and accentuate it. The opening could be easily hidden behind a flatscreen TV, a painting or a decorative screen. Then it would be only the brick wall as a feature in the room. On the other hand, there are FP's that were born to dominate and define the style of the entire space. I Googled kiva FPs after reading Lynninnewmexico's comment. They look so charming, but I can also see how restrictive they can be re: house style. There are probably other examples like ornate Victorian FPs or ultra-modernist ones. At the same time, FPs like the one in my photo of a 19th century middle class parlor are much more unassuming. Also, it seems that FPs that are set in a wall of stone or brick are easier to downplay by making the stone/brick wall a background feature. FPs that are set in corners or by the doorways are by design seem to be wanting to stay out of the limelight. Perhaps this thread could provide some good material for a book titled something like: "How to deal with that FP you've got!" Re: Frasier Crane's living room. This could probably start a whole thread on windows and views. Although Kswl and Arcy are right that the room was set up for filming (which I missed at the start), I can also see how the excess sun glare from the windows could make someone to put his couch sideways to the windows. In my home city almost all the residential housing is high-rise apartment blocks. Large windows that take most of a wall are common. The result is that when you live on 10th or 15th floor and your room faces South, you don't really want to sit facing the window all the time, view or no view. Couches, dinner tables and favorite recliners tend to be pushed into the depths of the apartments.

First thing I would do is orient the whatever house you eventually build in a more north/south orientation so you get better passive solar heating and cooling. It will save you from brutal heat and light in the rear from the west sun and also help with heating and cooling bills. Avington: It will be dark inside. The porches will limit the light entering the house and especially since it's not a north/south orientation. (see drawing) Notice how little light will enter? Why does not a single public room or bedroom in the whole house have windows on two walls? Windows on two walls allow for cross ventilation and light within. The best space in the bedroom (corners where you can get windows on two walls) are taken over by the closets. Why are there double doors from the bathroom into the closet? Why are there double doors from the bedroom into the bathroom? What is the point of the angled shower and vanity in the master bath? There is a fireplace in the master bedroom but it won't be viewable for one of you because the bed can't go on the wall opposite the fireplace. The master bedroom is up against the family room. Noise can be a problem, especially considering the TV will probably go on the wall that shares with the bedroom. The powder room toilet shares a wall with the master bedroom. With walkways the family room usable space is really only 13'10" x 15'4". The dining room is quite a hike from the kitchen. Now imagine carrying hot food, or a heavy turkey from the workspace in the kitchen to the dining room. There is no coat closet near the front door. The laundry room is quite a hike from the master bedroom and even from the upstairs bedrooms. (see drawing) There are french doors from the breakfast room out to the back. That means 3' of the space is taken but the room is only 8'6" which isn't even really deep enough for a 42" wide table without the french doors. The mudroom is quite small for a family of 5 with all their stuff. Downstairs with the exception of the master closets, there is only one other closet to put things and that's in the laundry room. If you have SUV's that garage is quite small. To get to the door to the interior from the garage means walking around the car that is parked closest to the door. More importantly if you're on 7 acres why would you want the garage attached to the house, where it sticks out in front of the house? If I had 7 acres you can bet my garage wouldn't be the first thing that's seen. I see no mechanical room indicated. The upstairs is actually better but I still see no windows on 2 walls. I'm not a fan of jack and jill bathrooms because someone always leaves one side locked. YMMV. The child in the jack and jill bathroom to the right will hear the toilet flush in the middle of the night since the toilet is on the bedroom wall. I'm not a fan of open to below spaces. It means things being thrown down and more importantly noise rising. Plus it's harder to heat and cool.

Happy to help. Everything looks great so you should be proud how you and your husband worked your way through it. And I have to tell you that I think the large couch looks good because it helps balance the trunk better in the room. Where before the trunk looked too large. Eventually a piece of art over the sofa will pull the room together totally and the only other thing you might want to consider down the road is going to a taller lamp on the table. With your larger furniture it looks a bit too small and also, to have interesting visual contrast you want to have different heights in a room and the height of the lamp ( at least in the photo) appears to be too close to the height of your new sofa and perhaps even the recliner. If you want to just experiment to see how the space would look with a taller lamp, just put a bunch of books under the lamp to raise it and then you'll know if that is something to consider later on. I really appreciate you letting us know what you ended up doing. And do keep us posted as you do your little tweaks to the room. Enjoy your new home and town.