May I ask just what is a "servery" and what does one do in a "conservatory"? You must not be in the US. It looks to me that the current family room has easier access to the kitchen than does the current dining room. That would be a plus for doing what you want to do. As of the floor plan, it looks entirely doable and it makes sense to reverse the use of the two rooms. It looks to be awkward to carry food service all the way around and down the hall to the current dining area. If you have servants, that might make sense. Since most of don't have any such, it makes sense to have the dining area adjacent to the kitchen. Most people don't even use the more formal dining areas of their homes, except at holidays. The modern sensibility is that most little used areas of that nature just amount to wasted space. So, if you spend more time gathered with friends than gathered around a more formal dining area, make that change.

@ SapphireStitch While it would be nice to wave a magic wand with an unlimited checkbook - I don't have that. I do have access to some money (got a HELOC). If some of the changes need to be done in stages and can be done effectively - we can do that, because the more money I have to pull upfront from the HELOC, the more I'll end up paying in interest. (yuck). I'm also not averse to acting as my own general contractor/project manager, if needed; I've done that before (successfully) But I'd rather not have to overall manage the project, just because my current employment is a boatload more demanding than my previous employment. The nice thing is that we don't have a defined deadline where "this must be done by" - no one is getting married, boatloads of relatives aren't coming to visit, etc. However, the kitchen as it currently stands is a source of daily irritation. We're getting to the point that if anyone is already in the kitchen, we try to avoid going in there until that person has left the kitchen. Tempers flare....we've got my boyfriend (who was envisioning a quiet, child-free retirement), my teenager (while she's not as much of a drama queen as some teens - she's just starting the teenage years, LOL), and me - frustrated as the primary food purchaser, preparer, organizer, clean-up person. And if my boyfriend happens to suddenly realize his blood sugar has dropped - get the hell out of the way in the kitchen. He's not very good at listening to his body - he literally passed out one time when his blood sugar dropped too low - he dashed into the kitchen, grabbed a glucerna and the last thing he remembered was opening it up - but he woke up on the floor sitting in a puddle of the stuff. (I wasn't home at the time). When either I or my teen are in the kitchen and if boyfriend does the mad dash into the kitchen - we pretty much have to drop what we are doing so he can grab something and while he stands there and he starts shoveling whatever down his throat. And since the space is so tight - it can mean leaving stuff cooking on the stove, etc. One time he dashed in, grabbed a breakfast sandwich out of the refrigerator, yanked what was already cooking in the microwave out, and threw his sandwich in. Anyhow, I digress. I know that some of the things we want are going to be big-ticket items - new cabinets, granite or quartzite countertops, slide-in induction stove. That's why I'm also looking for cost-efficient plans, such as instead of moving the sink to the middle of the room, let's keep it on the same wall and just shorten the distance from the hot water heater to the new sink location. Let's not blow out any of the exterior walls, and we can keep the current windows, dishwasher, and refrigerator. If replacing the 10'x13' current laminate would be cheapest to match new hardwood to the existing hardwood, rather than ripping it all out and putting tile down in a 20'x13' space, I'm fine keeping hardwood. If a nice, medium-stain maple cabinet is cheaper than white painted cabinets, I'm find with the the stained version... I prefer it, personally. Rather than a huge pantry cabinet, if building a pantry closet with adjustable shelves is cheaper, I'm fine with that (plus with all the small appliances and bulk-purchases from Costco and BJ's - I think it would suit our storage needs better). If getting an island fits the layout, but is out of reach - I'm fine holding off on installing island cabinets and countertop and using a kitchen table in the meantime. And because we don't have a "get it done by" date... once I have a really solid design/layout... I have the time to shop different cabinet lines and stoves, wait for sales and then to be ready to capitalize on hopefully a decent deal. I don't know if it's true, but I did see some articles that indicate the best time to shop for kitchen cabinets is November to early January.

Our living room is not used nearly as often as the family room. More recently, I find myself using the room for a nice get away from the TV that's in the family room. When we entertain, it is often just one couple for dinner, so 4 chairs would be ideal for that. When family is over, there are 8 of us and we just grab chairs from the dining room. With that said, tho, I am reconsidering keeping a sofa in the room!!!! I kind of like the way it defines the entry. I have not been out yet to start looking at furniture (well, except for on line). The thing is, if I do keep a sofa in there, I think I'd want something a little more streamlined. The arms on this sofa are fairly large! The option then might be to get a new sofa and then recover the existing chairs (without a skirt this time). It takes me FOREVER to make a decision!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After all the thoughts from everyone, I can see either 4 chairs or sofa and 2 chairs working in the room. Any more advice??????????????

I would get your husband a tv for the kitchen. The big tv over the fireplace doesn’t look good (too big and top heavy and detracts from your adorable windows on each side of tv). If you place your tv on a console on your big wall I think it would improve the whole look of your room and make for better tv watching when actually in the room.