Thanks for all the comments. My wife just cannot get over the modern look of Ikea. We've decided to go a different route entirely. While visiting a friend, she noticed their home office was a converted dining room as well. Similar to ours - hard wood floors, chair rail, crown molding. This person had two beautiful antique barrister bookcases, a small leather couch, a tastefully done large desk, and a oriental rug. It was nicely pulled together. So we are dropping the Ikea route and considering a partners desk with two sets of barrister bookshelves. Perhaps something like this: To answer the other questions: - this is just a home office for the family - the ideal space should accommodate, a PC, laptop and printer (and shredder) One option if the antique desks are too expensive: we have a custom Amish furniture maker local. He said he would make whatever we want. I'm curious to hear how much he would charge. Even the Ikea stuff added up to $2,000 - $3,000. Here is a link that might be useful: Antique partners desks

Kitchen is only 13' wide--nothing but a shallow stud-bay pantry will fit on the bottom wall between DR and entry, if an island with seating is used. 156" - 25" (base cabinets) - 42" aisle - 42" island with seating - 44" (minimum) aisle = 3". I switched the pantry and dish hutch, but that means the dish hutch is on the other side of the range from the DW. We don't know where groceries come into the house--if from the back door, the pantry is convenient just inside. The island could move over toward the short wall, then fridge and a shallow counter for landing could go between the DR and entry doors. That could be a snack center, with a MW on a shelf:

I think it definitely would add value to your house because the next owner wouldn't have to go through what your going through now. I think you're right that people want more usable, functional space. Too many people think they want totally open spaces but they end up with what you have now with wasted and useless space. and in furnishing those purposeless areas, they end up with something that looks like a furniture store showroom. Boring! I agree with squaring it off and placing the French doors facing the foyer. An added benefit when finished, is you gain some wall space in your living room for a wide but not too deep statement cabinet that could hold a lot of the kids' toys and games. If you have frequent guests and need an extra bed, I like the idea of a fold-up couch or desk/bed set-up to give the room an extra function.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree 100% on the shape of the table. I like the oval best but size wise i think the round may be best. Ill have a better idea once the furniture gets delivered. Im a little worried about glass with 2 small kids but this is not a room they will spend tons of time in so could be an option. Originally, I was going to use a rough sawn beam for the mantel so the table matched nicely. However, i put the beam on my surround and I honestly don't think it works. I will probably just extend it vertically and dress it up with a nice shelf with crown as trim (like picture below. I love the rug we found but i wonder if it is going to be blue overload in this room. Would a rug that is predominantly white be best? Either way, we will be getting an 8x10.