home4all6, I had an idea that could be a middle ground between working within your home's footprint and a MBR suite/kitchen addition. It is spurred by my memory of your comment that the FR addition was either built to be or could be turned into a first floor MBR suite. This likely won't be appealing to you since your children are still quite young but it won't be that many years before the idea of having some space between their rooms and yours will be quite appealing. Also, I don't know if this holds true for your area but first floor MBR suites are popular here because it means that people can stay in their homes longer. On to my idea: Build an addition for a larger eat-in kitchen, addressing mudroom, side entry stairs and PR issues at the same time. It's possible that an addition may offer up other possibilities for a PR location that won't require losing your home's center hall entry. I know you don't use it and wouldn't miss it but losing the central hall entry could be a negative for future buyers. Then, at some point in the future (that will arrive sooner than you realize), convert your FR into a MBR suite and convert the 16x13 room you are currently using as a MBR into a bonus room/media room. Is the existing laundry room large enough to be a walk-in closet as well? If not, you'll need to relocate this when you convert the FR into a MBR suite. Or perhaps include room for W/D etc in your mudroom plans. I don't know your market so please ask local realtors which of the potential revisions will make your home most appealing to future buyers. I'm not saying that's what you need to choose but it's good information to consider as you decide how to proceed. btw, this thread is coming close to the 150 cut-off so it would be a good idea to start saving all the information and suggested plans now before they drop off the forum.

Congratulations on the new home! This is probably not a suggestion you'll like, but... :-) Have you thought about trying to sell your entertainment center on Craigslist? You mention that TV watching is not the primary use of your room. You also are going to have a fireplace and I think you'd want to make that the focal point of the room and have the TV be secondary. With that entertainment center, it will probably be the focal point, fireplace secondary. If you sell the piece, you may be able to recoup some of the money you spent and have a piece custom built to fit the room. Since you said TV is not your primary function, you'd probably appreciate a piece with doors like in your picture from Houzz. We've found that many times a carpenter can build a custom cabinet, to your specs, for a small cost while they're building the house. If you just try to hire someone to do that while you're not building it can def cost more, but usually when they are already on-site those types of built-ins will cost less. Lastly, think about whether or not that piece of furniture is something you imagine being in your family for years and will never want to replace, and also won't break at any point. If it's not, I would be a little hesitant to build a room around it. Just a thought :-)

Sofa on long window wall will look and feel the best and make the room inviting when you walk into it from the front entry. TV on the short wall opposite the sofa; pay to have the wiring redone and move on......you cannot make the space bigger but you can make work well....PS what and where do the stairs go? Do you have an upstairs? What are the dimensions of the living/dining room and kitchen.

Do you have plans for the niches next to the fireplace? Maybe builtin storage cabinets and TV on a pull-out swivel on the right. The L side you could leave blank or have shelves above the lower cabinet. It will add some architectural interest and allow for storage. Then a seating area in front of fireplace - sofa and 1-2 chairs. A small desk area in the space between sofa area and dining. Though I’d probably have a computer station that closes off (do you need for desk top or just lap tops?)