The cabinets you are thinking about remind me a lot of artteacher's. I just tried looking up her kitchen on the old Finished Kitchens Blog. There are only 2 photos and neither show these cabinets (the link to her kitchen no longer works.) I've always admired the kitchen. We put a cabinet between our kitchen and dining area and it's one of my favorite features in the kitchen. The upper part is glass on 3 sides (the 4th side butts into a wall). I feel as though the kitchen is still very connected to the table area, but is separate enough to allow me to concentrate. I also appreciate not having to stare at the mess waiting for me as I eat dinner. The cabinet s just to the right of the microwave: From the dining room side it looks like this. The counter height doors open up to a pass through.

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.

@bev, I might go with the second one with the chairs on the either side for easier tv watching. But switching between either is easy, and more importantly the sofa & two chairs configuration seems to be the way to go to allow this flexibility. Camden Lane Interiors I love the blues in your pictures and feel naturally attracted to them. But the designer we met at a store today suggested that grey will offer more flexibility for decor, whereas with a blue you could get stuck. I need to think hard about that. Nevertheless, I picked some blue-grey shades from to store to check against the sofa. Anyone you like from this lot, or if have a different suggestion let me know. Thanks all as always.

tv is on the wall in the area where the fan is, the long wall with no window. since you have a dining area in the kitchen I would treat the other area as part of the entry/ sitting area.