French doors will give you the option of a door between the DR and LR, add to the value of your house. A lace curtain over the glass is the traditional way to cover them for privacy. If you wall in the space, please put your 2x4's 16" oc. It will take only a couple more and you will need the extra studs for nailing - sheet rock and trim are designed to be nailed every 16". If you are going to the effort of building a wall, do it right. Many people close in and rename their dining rooms. It's a fine idea to use the space you have to suit your family. But a house that 'goes around' works better - think of small children chasing each other through a house, happy for hours, or a party where people don't get caught in a dead end room but can circulate easily. So even if you close the door most of the time, I would suggest that you leave one, even if it is only a single French door. Yes, if you can only get to the DR through the kitchen, it is not a formal DR. When you have a dinner party and wish to entertain in the LR, you then set the table with your favorite china and silver, etc., and welcome people into your dining room formally - in Victorian days the gentlemen would have offered their arms to the ladies and escorted them into the dining room! However, if you do not entertain like that and do not intend to move in the next 5 years, do what you want! Someone else can change it back.

AnnieD, I started to try homestyler but think graph paper might work better for me. noodlesportland, I know that the couch legs won't work with the ledge. I sort of tried the table idea, but with the table on the ledge it makes the chairs too short. :p Maybe since it's not used anyway, at least it would look better for effect. I have a nice drop-leaf table that may fit there perfectly... will measure later! Thanks for the idea! technicolor, I think my 2nd post with further details explains the ledge situation better, as well as the other room "features" that I'm dealing with. :) sueb20, the problem with the sofa is the central legs. If they're on the ledge then at least one other set of legs is NOT on the ledge. lol! Actually, I wonder if it would make any sense to swing the sofa to the edge of the carpet in front of the slate floor? Don't remember if I tried that before.... as it sits, the sofa faces a big bank of windows (the dark black in the sketch). Thanks for the replies and suggestions, everyone! This post was edited by party_music50 on Sat, Nov 22, 14 at 11:04

Hi chicoryflower: I agree that would be nice. I have actually tried to think of a way of doing that--if the room were just a bit larger, and the door on the back fireplace wall were placed a bit differently, the addition of free standing columns along the division between the areas might work. I have tried to make free standing columns work with the current layout--there is just no way. However, when I repaint I will add columns around that door on the fireplace wall--that will give a sense of height from at least some vantage points. Also I have spotted a beautiful red vase (can't afford it right now), but when I can I think it would work on the cabinet that you see in the above picture to the left of the fireplace--a red vessel stands on the bookcase to the right, and I think this one will be about the same size. The red vessel on the bookcase helps the proportion there so I am hoping that a similar treatment on the left plus the columns, while not the perfect solution, could help. Love to see the pics of your aunts--I can always use a smile during winter--I do not like winter!

I actually like the horse the best. I have these in my home: 2 clerestory windows and 2 flat spaces above the 2 closets in the entry. We choose to ignore them. We did try plants once; however the sun and heat up there made short shrift of them. i like the horse because it adds a touch of whimsy, relates to your horse painting, therefore makes the area look more like an area to display an additional part of the collection, and looks less contrived. Be aware, though, that sun and heat will damage anything you put up there, so don't use anything too precious to you.