The use of sealants on brick is a contentious issue in the industry. I should note that the Brick Industry Association advises that sealants are the last resort. See Technical Note 23A (Scroll to Search function on left.) In the UK, the Brick Development Association recommends against any sealant period. If you do choose a sealant, use a penetrant silane or siloxane not a film type, usually silicone. Silicone sealants stop the water from getting in, but they trap water that is in the brick and coming through the brick from inside the structure, resulting in spalling. Brick spalling--the popping off of the outer layer of brick--is often caused by excess water trapped in the brick that freezes in cold weather. Source: Carepro.ca After personal experience destroying heritage bricks with silicone sealants in the early '70s, I avoid all sealants and only gently dry brush efflorescence. Rather than treating a whole wall, work with a small section, preferably not front and centre, and see what happens over a year. You don't want to attack a cosmetic concern and end up replacing masonry walls.

I could reverse them, but then is it strange to have the toilet RIGHT on the other side of the dining room? (And to have it across from the front entry door?) And, it'd mean no mirror above the sink. I'm hesitant to do the pocket door for sound and privacy reasons. A swing in door absolutely won't work (no room to turn around to close it). The window is a high window about 5 feet off the ground and only 2' x 2'. It'll have a decorative stained glass insert that you won't be able to see through. It's already all framed in - no changing it now!

I would convert to a half wall, probably something with some architectural style. The 1st picture has nice detail, but is really overkill for your area. The 2nd picture is too bland (looks inexpensive/after thought). I like the 3rd picture with a half wall with a lot of nice detail. Its big enough to define the entrance, but doesn't get in the way visually. If your family has a habit of taking shoes, gloves or other items off when you enter the front door I would also consider a slightly deeper wall that has some open storage on the entrance side That keeps shoes and accessories off the floor, and is more convenient (more likely to be used) than putting it inside the coat closet. Bruce

Thanks for all your comments everyone :) Marylut i dont think the wall is actually blocking any light really, its just that with the door closed (even though the room is light enough) its really quite obvious that there is a closed door (if that makes any sense!), we thought maybe with the wall taken out it would just open it up some more. Jan, yes an exterior balcony. The balcony you can see from the pictures wraps around to behind the wall behind the fire place and meets up to a sliding door which opens into the dining area. Elizabeth, it would be amazing if it were a lake! But its actually just the view of the valley and houses below us. The lounge connects back to the entry way. So if you look at the first photo "View from the front door" just to the left is the door into the lounge (that goes down a few steps to meet the dining room again. There isn't anything under the floor, its a stilt home so underneath is dead space where we store our fire wood :) gnu36- If we swapped the dining room and lounge then the area where the dining room is now will have two lounges as in the picture you can see little stairs going up and that goes into what is to become a formal sitting room. Sonni1- thank you, we absolutely love it and are so excited at all the possibilities of improving it! Zmith- thank you too, as above we do love it! Thank you for your opinion, we would definitely need a balustrade otherwise I dont see how we would make the stairs safe from the dining room side. So all in all, i think the question has been answered- we will not be consulting a pro as it seems unlikely it would make as huge a difference as we hoped and its probably better to spend our money in other areas. Thanks again for everyones comments, despite feeling some of them were pretty rude and too abrupt than necessary i will definitely be posting again if i need some more help with other areas. Thanks all.