That's the Hobbit door. It opens to the north end of the short hallway where the two original bedrooms "Y" off. If you go straight through the Hobbit door and walk all of 5 feet, you're in the bathroom. Wes wanted to close up this doorway, but I insisted we keep it. The living room area is so small that without the light and line of sight from that door I think I'd go bonkers, especially in the winter. If you step in the front door you can see across the living room, through that doorway, through the den, and its window to the trees and sky outside. Wes did some calculating tonight and he thinks if we put a half-circle arch in the 67" wide kitchen doorway, it would block too much of the room. I'm going to mock it up with cardboard to test it. If the arch won't work I'll have to decide if I want one large squared door way, with a proper headed, or if I want to square off the smaller door. This photo was taken a while back. I'm standing in the small den (former bedroom) looking through the hall, through the Hobbit door and into the living room. That big roll on the floor is the vinyl flooring we installed in the bathroom. You can also see into the corner of the lilac painted sewing room (former bedroom.) These colors are way off from the light reflected from the snow. They are much deeper. The ceiling and soffit is a rich camel color and the walls are deep, dark, ox blood red.

Thank you for being clear about what has to stay, so I'm going to deal with your "givens," the built-ins and sofas. --Is the current carpet in good shape and comfy for the kids? Of so, get it cleaned and leave it. It harmonizes with the fireplace, and kids live on the floor. You can get hardwoods when they're older. --Choose a much lighter and warm cream/taupe wall paint that goes with the carpeting and stone. Sorry, honey. That will NOT be gray. Other Commentors will make some good paint suggestions, taking into account that you have a lot of outdoor greenery that affects paint choices In good natural light, take a close up of the carpeting if you decide to keep it. If you need curtains for privacy or to dim room, match them to the paint color--ceiling to floor length. Also need to take into consideration the kitchen area wall color. Can you show us that? (Always show all walls of an open space when asking a Design Dilemma.) --Rethink layout to create TV conversational zone and a kid zone. TV/Conversational zone: Move wider sofa to face the fireplace and the smaller sofa to face the great outdoors! It looks like nature is right there, so it's an extension of your living room. Don't block the great view! Move the smaller sofa against the wall so it creates an "L" with the wider sofa. Put a large, colorful, circular storage ottoman in the "L" or two colorful smaller storage ottomans. Some of the spillover of toys and such can go in there. Put tray(s) on top of ottomans when entertaining. The one below is kind of fancy, but there are lots of storage ottoman options out there. --TV conversational zone.:Move TV to one of the built-ins since those are one of your givens. I'm going to say something sacrilegeous: Get a TV that fits in one of the built-ins. --Kid zone. This will be a play area between the kitchen and the TV/conversational part of the space. Get open wood shelving, sofa height if possibl to go against long sofa. Get baskets for the kids' toys. The finish should be the same as your wood trim. You're sure to find bookshelves like that on Craigslist. Down the road, when kids are older, you can get a lovely sofa console cabinet to use as a buffet. Lighting: Proportions will be important. Something in a wood finish but with modern lines would be great. Here's an article on measurements for different sized rooms, tall ceilings, etc https://www.lumens.com/how-tos-and-advice/how-to-choose-the-right-size-ceiling-light.html.

Great recommendation on matching paint with chairs. I definitely agree with the oriental rug suggestion. Lighting for this room is not an issue because we have tons of windows on both sides of the room. Thank you so much for the feedback! To Patricia: I also thought the chandelier was very heavy and ornate when we bought the house but I have grown to love it. Apparently, the original owner had it shipped from Austria. It’s quite stunning at night.

Hi Beverly, I did order samples of the wallpapers. I’m afraid you’re right about my choice being too busy. Additionally, it’s a large pattern and might be too broken up on my dining room walls which don’t have large expanses visible. Sigh, I’m starting to rethink my whole project. When I look at my inspiration rooms, almost all feature a healthy dose of my favorite colors, blue and green. I love my living room rug but I think the orange is so dominant and likely precludes my use of blue or green. I’ve booked an in-home consultation with an interior designer and hope she can point me in a better direction.