Our current living room dimensions are almost exactly the same. I think it looks good, but much of the "visual height" comes from wide openings to foyer and kitchen with transoms above each to 8'. I also have my window treatments started closer to the ceiling to elongate the window. If I can get the toys picked up enough to take a pic I will post one. If you can get 10' I would - that extra foot does alot for the room.

Ms222 Oh my, what a great house on the water. You love modern...really nice table and chairs. If you go all modern and plan on keeping the same kitchen floor plan you will have to replace all the doors top and bottom, eliminate the two short staggered cabinets on top and add cabinets in their place on the same line as the others. Eliminate the upper moldings style and backsplash; the countertop would work fine as is. Eliminate the chair rails and replace all interior doors. I would paint your walls in a flat paint and see how you like it and then decide when or if to eliminate the texture. When I painted my son's textured walls in Behr porpoise gray flat paint we had to touch the walls to even know the texture was there. However, it's hard to see how much texture you have in your pictures and we don't know if there is texture behind the chair rails. Anyway, after all that you'll have a good start on transforming it all to a completely different look. I know it might seem overwhelming but once you get a start on it it will be fun. I almost envy you because I'm a gal who needs projects and mayhem; I'm in limbo now just fixing things up to sell for a future downsize. Not fun! In my next house I'm hoping to do a completely different style. I want to buy the little stinky 60's house across the street from the waterfront mansions. Then I plan on becoming their very bestest friend and ride around in their yacht lol. Jill, please post after you go to the NY store and tell us of the quality. I have never actually touched Lillian August furniture. I really love so many things on the online site though and like the fact that there are a few things in my price range. Of course all the sofa's and chairs I really love are at the highest prices... boo Looking forward to your report!

colorfast... yes, my next step is to make up a color board. It's been terribly difficult to try and obtain a sample door from my cabinet maker. Though they are scheduled to be finished with the order by next week, I am going to try again and see if I can get something earlier. I did pick my cabinet white by taking color samples with me when I went in to see my granite. Hopefully, my sample tiles will arrive soon and I can get a clearer picture of everything. boxerpups... thank you for your ideas! They are beautiful. I wasn't a big fan of gray walls (one of my friends had suggested it), but then again, I never realized how much undertone can exist and change the effect of a color. I mean, only when I started comparing have I realized that there are blue-ish whites and pinkish whites, etc. I'll have to study those colors you suggested. They are lovely. melaska... I have that same living room saved in my Houzz ideabook and it's the reason I've fallen in love with Shaker Beige! I would love to have my entire 1st floor in that color, minus my kitchen and sunroom. I'm also happy to hear that someone else is considering it with sage green and white. I'd be super interested to see how your space turns out,too! linelle... the BS tiles in the 1st photo is Walker Zanger's Bamboo Mizu line. I had seen a sample in person and confirmed it with the designer. Unfortunately, it's been discontinued. The greens in it are similar to their Celedon color as well as Daltile's Pistachio. I'm hoping to find a tile with lots of variation in its glazing to get the same effect. Heath Ceramics has several colors that are close to both of the photos... since their tiles are all handmade, there can be a lot of variation in the glazing as well. I'm waiting for some samples from them to check it out... no showrooms in this area. Hope this helps!

If I were going to make moderate modifications, this is what I would do, as you enter from garage shifting the garage door to L into mud entry w/separated laundry room, walking past new storage/pantry on R and into expanded kitchen - sink wall and range wall extended; larger island; addl cabinetry (or could be furn like sideboard) at stairway wall; shifted sliders to patio towards fam rm; fam room bumped out into yard slightly and fp re-centered accordingly; office footprint enlarged with closets flanking french doors, one facing foyer and other into office. I don’t love the long wide hallway leading into DR from kitchen - dead space, but this is as far as I got during my short commute. Also, furn is NOT to scale and I should have deleted it before saving, but...