I wanted to post some after photos and thank everyone who took the time to comment. It turns out that the wall was "indented" when we removed the chair rail so my DH has spent several weekends to build it back up with joint compound and texture it to blend in with the walls. It was a painfully tedious process (first trying to do it by hand, then with a sponge, then with spray-on compound that dribbled everywhere, and finally with a trowel lightly loading dabs of compound on). If you look closely you can still tell, but it's not as glaring as it was several iterations ago. Suffice to say, we are thrilled to be done with sanding, priming, texturing, and painting! Now, I need to figure out what wall decor to put up as the removal of the chair rail makes it a much easier space to deal with! Any and all advice would be appreciated. I was thinking of doing a photo gallery near the front entry, but that is a HUGE wall and I don't know that I can put photos high enough where you can still see them but not so low that the wall looks off-balance. Forgive the quality of the photos, taken without a flash on my iPhone.

A-hah - that's a horse of another color! If you are doing this for sale, I'd recommend: White cabinets with brushed nickel hardware and glass doors in the upper cabinets on the far right and far left. Black quartz (Silestone or Cesarstone or the like) countertops. An oversized undermounted stainless sink. (If you're interested I have a great source for those). White subway tile with hardly any grout line from countertop to cabinet bottom on the stove wall. Mid-toned (cherry or maple stained) oak floors. Warm gray walls. Carefully thought out ambient and task lighting. I know - snore - but it's classic, fresh, attractive to virtually everyone, flexible, neutral, and clean.

This is a unique, beautiful layout, but - Holy Cow - there's way too much going on. Simplify. As others suggest, raise the living room floor and get rid of the step down and railing. It would combine the entry and living room and really open up the space. It would be safer, too, because it's easy to forget situations where there's one or two steps, especially for guests. Paint the brick. Easier and cheaper than drywall and would retain the interesting texture. Lighter color railings would help. The hillbilly front door has got to go.

It's just a small built in desk in a good size kitchen. Probably a good idea to show what this will look like after the demo and once the new cabinets are hung. Keeping the desk, moving the printer and shredder. The corner not shown in these images is where a table would go and whatever replaces the wobbly old railing - thread topic (in the above pics of the current kitchen) Cabs will be KM Sedona - custom white, Counters will be Cambria Montgomery, Island KM surfside. The island is smaller than the image to gain more access around it. thanks.