"Also, out on the farm, a formal dining room seems a bit out of place, while an open country kitchen, with a big work table, woodstove and lots of light sounds just right...at least for me!" Many people expect a "farmhouse" to look like that thanks to images in magazines of remodeled modern kitchens. The reality was that after a long day toiling in the fields, being able to close off the hot kitchen from the dining room so you could eat in relative comfort was a blessing. In the country at least, it wasn't until the widespread use of electric fans, water coolers and air conditioners was the kitchen considered to be a room anyone wanted to hang out in; before then it was just a hot, steamy, and pretty much no nonsense work space for preparing meals and washing up afterward. There was a reason women of any means at all hired someone else to cook. ;^) I would never, ever open the wall between the kitchen and dining room here. Mainly that's because there's a whopping 15 to 20 degree difference in the temperature between the two rooms in the summer after I finish making dinner. That said, since we bought this farm, we have done some rearranging in the 100+year old house. The bathroom had been created by taking a corner of what used to be the screened sleeping porch at the back back and closing it in; MOL just crammed in a closet directly off the kitchen. We moved the bathroom to the other end of the porch, away from the kitchen. And we've been working to open up the wall between what had been the former porch and bathroom and the kitchen so when we're done there will not only be room for the washing machine, but also a tiny, walk in pantry, a place to sit and take off muddy boots, and a small table and chairs with a window looking out over the backyard toward the west. As further sacrilege, I'd like to one day move the bathroom off the back porch all together and put it in the middle bedroom, and turn that part of the porch into a laundry/utility room. You can't get to the second bedroom without going through the middle bedroom, and in otherwise similar sized homes the same age and with an otherwise similar floorplan, that space is actually a small, short hallway and a bathroom. I'm guessing that the family that built the house needed the room to sleep more than a bathroom, as they didn't even add one until almost 60 years later. So as far as eventually moving the bathroom into the house itself, you could say that I want to upgrade the floorplan to the high end version of what was available when the house was built.

hbk, that was what i was thinking... not taking out the whole thing, just enough width to recess the fridge so that I can have more walking room around a table. Because the dining room is on the other side of the butler's pantry (IE: sort of far away from the kitchen) we definitely need some sort of "eat-in" situation even if it is not glamourous or expansive. greendesigns, what you are saying is what i was sort of thinking but hoping wasn't the case. I think we should probably be thinking of taking out the chimney all together and dealing with the "fall out" on the second floor or work around it on the first floor and have as good a situation as we can get within the confines of the space.

It's a nice room and you've done a pretty good job. A few tweaks though,,,,exchange the short plant for a taller plant, in that corner. If you can't do a taller one, then hang the one you have from the ceiling or put it on a taller, mini table. put the plant on something like this. Target..Project 62 That sectional, (which really is too big for this room) in front of that door, really closes off the room (visually and literally). if you could, at some point, you could use separate pieces, that would be great. going w/a round, open style coffee table will soften some of those square edgesTarget. a single sofa against the long wall, some colored pillows, artwork, the coffee table/bench (using one like this that's 'open' looking, gives the illusion of more space) the blue velvet chair for some accent colors,,,,this is what you need in your space. for instance, imagine if you removed that smaller end of the sofa and had something like this against that wall or this one. BTW, these colors, below, would look great in your room. Do you have any artwork? Framed pictures, tapestry, shelving,,,anything? here is a simple example that you could do. Target has cute accessories like little tables, pillows, wall decor, etc, that you could use. bring in some color w/the arrangement like they done here, for behind your sofa. the pics behind this sofa are hung a bit high, but should give you an idea of how to accessorize your room. this would also be a better table for you. It's mainly that sectional that is really making this room heavy. if you need window coverings, I keep it sleek w/some inset blinds of some sort.

So you'll be changing furniture as well? What colors appeal to you? Are you talking traditional french country with toile and chintz type of fabrics? What is your budget for changes? How many do you need to seat? I think your table could work with new chairs and new lighting. Do you like any of these chairs? They all work with French country but have different levels of formality.