I agree with your girlfriend. I would however suggest you rethink the mirror. I’m one of the people who think mirrors should only be used if they reflect something you want to emphasize - like light from a window, a view, etc. Your mirror fills a space but doesn’t add anything. I suggest you replace it with some art - something that appeals to you personally.

The mirror is actually a brand new addition, as of Sunday. I've gone through several art pieces over the year, but never "loved" any of them; especially since they needed to go along with dog accessories and complement whatever I have on the wall to the left.

But we had an appraiser come out on Monday (trying to refinance while rates are low), and I already had the mirror, so I took down the cheap-looking prints and replaced them with the mirror in the hopes of making the awkward-shaped room look bigger.

My original plan was to set up a console table, hang the mirror just above it vertically instead of horizontally (with the bottom maybe 1' lower than it is now), and then have a fake orchid and decorative dishes in front of the mirror to be reflected. But I ran out of time and money.

The real problem is the layout of the whole floor, though. It's a split-level house and this floor is roughly 20' x 40', but up- and down-stairs in the living room narrow the usable area to about 13' x 40'. Then the half-wall separating the living room from the dining room make the living room 13' x 19', then the kitchen and dining room are combined to about 16' x 19' (the 20' floor minus appliances and counters). So it's an 800 sq.ft. area that feels like there's no room for anything! Thus, mirrors in an attempt to add the illusion of depth.

I originally dreamed of removing that half-wall and eliminate the unused dining room altogether, but how to layout a living room that's 13' x 40', with a floor-to-ceiling bay window on the South side, a sliding glass door on the North side, and stairs filling up the East side? I have no clue :-/

Jason - Hmmmm, I see your problem. There are people on this forum who are extremely creative. Could you do a scale drawing of the entire floor and see what ideas you get? Simply use graph paper from an office store and 1 block equals 1 foot. Include all walls, windows, doors, closets, and kitchen cabinets and appliances. If you can’t scan it and load a file, take a good photo of the drawing and post that. Good luck with your appraisal.

Room looks kind of dreary with those wall colors - especially in a north facing room. If you don't use it can you set it up for an office or maybe a bar space with easy chairs and a console? If you don't use room for dining, where do you eat?

Working with what you currently have I would

1. move the Effiel Tower over to the wall with the other decor and mount it not as high as you mounted the mirror.
2. mount the mirror vertically on the other wall and place some type of candle sconces with battery-operated pillars on either side of the mirror to make that wall more substantial.
3. select a better light fixture for the room. A chandelier with fabric shades will create a cozy ambiance.

Not sure what to say about this color scheme for this room. It's so gold and for me a bit depressing.

Here is a bar idea.

Interior Design · More Info

She's right, but I think you need rethink a way to use the "room." It is only a dining room for the dog! What could you do here that you'd enjoy? Could it be a library, foosball area, office, cocktail nook, media spot for two? What's the amount of floor space here? Where is the kitchen? Can you post more pic taken while standing in the center of each wall and shooting the opposite side?

Thanks so much for all of the help! I've lived here for 17 years and this level has always been a problem child. My 13 year old beagle (kind of a special needs dog) just passed away last month, though, so now we're talking about doing some remodeling that we couldn't do with him here. If the refi goes through then I'll have a little bit of a budget.

Here are some pics I took earlier; not exactly what @decoenthusiaste asked because I'm not in the center of each wall, I'm at the corners.

From the front door:

Turning left at the front door, with the stairs to my right and the door on my left (look in the mirror, you can kinda see me! LOL):

Scooting down a little towards the chair, so you can see the stairs behind me:

Walking forward so that my back is against the orange half-wall:

The other end of the kitchen, with my back near the stove:

The other side of the kitchen, with my back to the refrigerator:

Things of note:

1. The walls aren't actually gold-colored, I think that's just the lighting. In reality the dominant color is Valspar Light Raffia in eggshell:

https://mobileimages.lowes.com/productimages/e587d794-924c-41cb-9ec5-e32f74f93935/41316726.jpg?size=pdhi 

and the color beneath the chair rail is Valspar Clivenden Sandstone in eggshell:

http://mobileimages.lowes.com/product/converted/042397/042397036422.jpg

I chose these as neutral tones to complement all of the browns. You can see that there's no good place to stop on this whole floor, so the Light Raffia is everywhere until you get to the corner at the top of the stairs. Then the hallway is back to Clivenden Sandstone.

2. I absolutely hate the stair rails! They're really more like deck railings :-( They were built original with the house and I'd love to replace them.

3. I also want to replace the floor with either hardwood or tiles that look like hardwood. And I have a dream of installing recessed lights throughout the kitchen and dining room (I wouldn't hate losing the chandelier altogether).

4. I wouldn't have chosen that color of cabinet, but it's too expensive to replace. The granite counters were chosen by me and are relatively new, though.

5. The distance from the railing going downstairs to the orange half-wall is 50".

Downstairs, I converted the open basement to 4 rooms: laundry room, movie theater, game room / bar, and a gym. Upstairs are 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, and I converted two of those bedrooms to offices. So I really don't need any additional rooms, which makes the whole dining room a total waste of space!

For the most part, we eat at the coffee table in front of the TV.

I actually COULD use a larger kitchen; we have limited storage, and the refrigerator is in the worst location imaginable. So at one point I started to add pantry cabinets and a buffet table over there, but everything was going to be slightly taller than the half-wall. That led us to the goal of eliminating the half-wall altogether, but then that led to expanding the living room instead of the kitchen. I'm not sure if any of that is practical, though.

I started working on a CAD-style drawing with measurements and details, but it's complicated. I'll try to finish that up tonight.

The pics really help! Nice house - you made it sound just the opposite!! If I were you, I'd move the mirror opposite the windows, and get a large, colorful, square-ish (48"x48" ?) picture for the middle of the wall that faces the kitchen. Put a bright colored rug under the table. Move the shelves to another place in the home - can the fit to the right of the patio door? A new light fixture would help to update the space, too. I would not put anything in the corners of the dining space.

I would need time to play with this and unfortunately don't have much time today, but I would consider swapping the placement of the opening between the dining room / kitchen and the living room. Close the kitchen - adding much needed storage, eliminate the table and create more storage and have a couple of bar stools.

So you don't think your walls are gold? Compared to white they are.

That's a great space near the sliders where you actually get some light. Moving the mirror to the adjacent wall will reflect the light from outside rather than your kitchen. Take all the stuff off the table top, so you can use it for eating, games, puzzles, paperwork, or other tabletop uses. Get some upholstered chairs that are more comfortable so you use the space. If you really don't want or use a table at all, consider using four armchairs grouped around a round coffee table. I'd remove the heavy dark drapes and leave the sliders bare. If you need something for privacy, look for a lighter colored drape.

Modern Nantucket Renovation · More Info

Not a pro, but the cheapest thing you can do is paint. As Beverly says, your walls could be lighter. Wonder what others would think about painting them all, including the chair rail, a warm cream color. Remove the small shelves and mirror. The room looks choppy with a lot of small things.

Can you remove the 8' wall between living and dining? With the wall gone you'd have room for a larger island that is more entertaining friendly. You could remove your ugly stair railings and install a pony wall instead pre-wired for TV to be mounted there.

If you like to watch television during dinner, why not mount one on the DR wall? Then you could even watch it while in the kitchen. Make sure your dining room table has comfortable chairs and then you'll prefer to eat where you won't have to balance your plate on your knees. Not only that, people might hang out at the DR table and keep the cook company.

@Jennifer Hogan, in your design, where would the TV go? The corner between staircases is really too small, and I hate the idea of blocking the bay window with it! I actually hate how it's blocked now with the furniture, because the front and back gardens are the prettiest things of the home! So I'm not a fan of blocking them or drawing attention away from them.

@BeverlyFLADeziner, I think you'd have to see them in person :-) When I first bought the place everything was in shades of pink (seriously, pink walls, pink carpet, even pink cabinet pulls!), so I had to use white primer before painting. The Light Raffia is light enough that I missed several areas after the first coat, and you really couldn't tell where they were without a spotlight. So it's really a very light cream, and then the Sandstone was on the same Valspar palette card so maybe 3 shades darker.

@calidesign:

Take all the stuff off the table top, so you can use it for eating, games, puzzles, paperwork, or other tabletop uses.

In all honesty, she and I have been together for 27 years (anniversary of our first date is today!) and we've lived together for 25+, and we have never, ever sat at a dining room table! The very few times that we did use it was when we had company, but that's been MAYBE 3 times in the last 10 years.

For the most part, the dining room table is just a junk collector :-(

The living room can comfortably hold 3 people (4 if 3 of us sit on the sofa), so when friends come over we're a lot more likely to be in the basement (movie theater and game room / bar) or backyard (goldfish pond and flower garden for ambience, hot tub, fire pit, it's a lot more entertainment-friendly).

I'd remove the heavy dark drapes and leave the sliders bare.

The drapes are actually functional because they both help to insulate the somewhat drafty windows, and they block morning light when we're trying to sleep in. Right now we leave the bedroom door open so that the Sheltie can move around at night, so the drapes are the only thing blocking the light.

@decoenthusiaste:

Can you remove the 8' wall between living and dining? With the wall gone you'd have room for a larger island that is more entertaining friendly. You could remove your ugly stair railings and install a pony wall instead pre-wired for TV to be mounted there.

That's actually been my dream since I bought the place! I'm not 100% sure that it's totally cosmetic, though. I know that it's not "technically" load bearing because I've been underneath it in the crawl space and in the attic. But a few years ago I plastered up some cracks in it near the ceiling, and I can see now that they've cracked again. So I suspect that the ceiling has sunk at least a fraction of an inch since then.

My bigger concern, though, has been exactly how to lay out an area that has usable space of 13' x 40'! I had originally imagined a fireplace on the 40' wall (where the half-wall is now) with a rock faux-chimney, but I just don't think that's practical.

I have a much more unrealistic dream of removing the downward stairs completely, and instead modify the upward stairs to lift up via hydraulic to reveal downward stairs! Think ala The Munsters and Spot :-D Maybe not THE most practical solution, but it would give me about 5' of usable space back!

@Jennifer K:

If you like to watch television during dinner, why not mount one on the DR wall?

Wellllll, this is a touchier area... I've actually always liked the idea of eating at the table and having music in the background, especially since we both work at home and meals are our only REAL time together.

But my girlfriend hates that! She much prefers sitting on the comfy sofa with the dog curled up at her hip, sneaking occasional bites over for extra love <3 The coffee table is used as the dining table, though, so we're not actually balancing on our knees. Well, if we're just eating a sandwich or something then we might, but usually not.

I gave up on that whole fight about 20 years ago :-O LOL

In my first home the dining room table became the catch all for mail, books, papers, packages, keys. When we moved I got rid of the table and never missed it. We lived in our last home for 20 years without a table. We ate at the counter or in front of the TV. I have a dining room table again in my current home, but ditched the untrainable husband instead.

I would make the stairwell the backdrop for the TV and then add the TV

You make dinner time sound so cozy! I still think a bar area and a few comfy chairs around a cocktail table would be more pleasant to look at than the table with wine bar stuff on it. BTW, your sheltie is so precious. You could add a colorful drape over the room darkening one to add some brightness and a bright rug. Maybe some floor lamps to add ambiance? Sometimes it might be nice to have a place to be other than the LR - to enjoy the view out the slider, look at magazine or whatever.

For the patio doors I would get the draft addressed, remove the drapes and if necessary get simple light colored vertical blinds. When closed they should block the light. You don't need dark heavy draperies.

I would probably get up down blinds for the front windows as well - keep it clean and simple.

As for paint color, I am okay with the main color, might go lighter, but not the color below the rail is really gold in comparison to your neutral

@Jennifer Hogan, I love the idea of using the stairs as a backdrop for the TV :-) How would you address the downward stairs next to it, though?

I measured... the distance of the opening of the upward stairs to the rails of the downward stairs is 54", and the depth of the opening to the downward stairs to the wall is 44".

You can see that the left-side railing on the downward stairs would block the TV unless you're right in front of it :-(

If I'm going to dream... I'd love to find a way to get rid of the stairs altogether! You can see that there's another half-wall on the left side that matches the half-wall that divides the living room and dining room. But this half-wall is right next to the refrigerator, which keeps me from being able to open the right-side door all the way! It's SUCH a pain!!

I'm about to rip out the stairs and just put in a dang elevator... that'd buy me 7' of usable space back!!!! LOL

For the patio doors I would get the draft addressed

That's definitely on my list of projects. My beagle was terrified of people (to the point of seizures) and had a hard time walking on the non-carpeted floors, but now that he's gone we plan to replace windows, the sliding glass door, and floors on this level. But I have to decide what to do about the stair railings and the 8' wall first.

It's not just a draft, though... in the winter when it's cold outside, you can stand in front of the windows or doors and just FEEL the cold emanating from the glass! It's not uncommon for me to have a $400 electric bill in the winter, and the drapes helped to cut that down to about $300. I'm not sure that there's anything on the market that will really help solve that :-O

remove the drapes and if necessary get simple light colored vertical blinds. When closed they should block the light.

The previous owners actually had vertical blinds, but they didn't work well at all! Light came through the cracks, they didn't block the cold, and they had a very 1980s corporate office look :-(

I'm kind of thinking about replacing the sliding glass doors with pocket doors or French doors, but I don't really know.

Okay, I will be using my reality. If I were in your position I would know that I have to live with the things I cannot afford to change. That would be the stairs. Stairs take up more space than anyone wants them to, but there is little you can do about it. An elevator will take more space than you think as well. You would still need a space that is a 5'x5' minimum for the elevator and shaft. I didn't know the cost, but just looked it up on google. 3-Story Home -$48,000 - $62,000.

I would consider selling the house and buying a more suitable home before I would consider that level of investment.

So with the stairs not moving I would change the rail for both the up and down staircases. You could even do a clear glass/acrylic wall next to the down stair case. You just have to have it blocked so no one can fall into the hole.

If the sofa is along the wall opposite the stairs and 2 chairs by the window you shouldn't have any difficulty viewing the TV. Test it - move your TV in front of the stair rails and move your sofa to the wall opposite and sit on both ends of the sofa. There shouldn't be any areas blocked based on what I am seeing, but you haven't given us an actual floorplan, so visuals can be skewed.

Going back to your original question, I think the reason you feel like you need something in that corner is because that wall with the mirror is not balanced. The right side is visually heavier than the left side (pretend the wall hangings are on a see-saw -- the stuff on the right side will make the see-saw go down on the right). You need to get that wall balanced visually (note - it does not have to be symmetric, the left and right sides should just have the same visual weight).

As for the sliding glass doors, a well sealed door will not have drafts. Dual pane windows should keep the cold out. Curtains are a pretty inefficient way to weather proof your home.

The curtains you have look dark and heavy. Don't like vertical blinds, get up down blinds, get roman shades. Go shopping and look for something that is less weighty in the room.

Again, I wouldn't have the money to replace and in a small space French doors need to swing inward and you lose even more useable space.

If I couldn't open my refrigerator door it would be even more incentive to open the dining room and close off the kitchen so that I could have a kitchen that functions.

@Jennifer Hogan, I was totally joking about the elevator :-)

But... I looked at completely remodeling the kitchen, but new cabinets and countertops was gonna be around $10,000! If I take out that wall between the dining room and living room and then redo the stair rails, that'll probably be another $10,000. So shoot, if I'm investing $20,000 and not going to love it, what's another $25,000?! LOL

I honestly think that the best option would be to tear out the long wall completely (opposite the stairs) and extend the house another 10'. But I can imagine that would be another $60,000 or more, too :-O

I really don't want to sell the house... I have 5 acres of land, with 4 of those acres being woods so it's nice and quiet. I've spent years working on gardens, and I have a plan of building an orchard. So the area itself is perfect, it's just this one floor that I can't quite master :-/

The biggest problems, I think, are the downward stairs and the dividing wall. The wall can be removed, so it's REALLY those stairs... if I could just find a way of removing them then I could easily set up the kitchen counter like you described before, and have a much larger living space. It's amazing how much of a problem 4-5 sq.ft can be!

@RTHawk, you're exactly right on that corner. Are you suggesting that I add height to the left side, or remove the shelves from the right side?

Since you have 5 acres, maybe build a new house and pull down the old one? It's not as insane as it sounds-- renos are significantly costlier/sf than new builds. And you already have the land so that's one more expense not to worry about.