Hello fellow Tri-leveler!! Ours opens into the LR, too. You come in the front door and the room flows from your right. We have an oriental runner that flows from the front door to the kitchen doorway straight ahead. There is an antique chest of drawers centered on the lefthand wall that has a lamp and a changing display of decorative stuff. There is another oriental in the LR area with bare hardwood floor between the edge of the runner and the larger area one. There is a comfortable wingback chair anchoring each of the two ends of the rug. The sofa is against the far righthand (house end) wall. The wing chairs face the sofa at an angle. Since the room is not huge, the space in the middle of the room is not "lost" looking and the pattern of the oriental can be seen. Under the large pic window is a low ancient wash bench that can be used as additional seating if needed. There are usually a few plants parked here along w/ current reading materials. On the inside wall across from the pic window is a large secretary that is closed when I am not using it as my desk. There is an old chair parked here that can be angled to either wing chair or turned to the sofa... wherever conversation takes place. The arrangement works as a "foyer" because the runner acts as a "hallway" of sorts leading you to the kitchen or the stairs. The backs of the chairs (at angles) helps guide you along the "hall". The opening between the chairs acts as the enterance to the actual LR. The hardwood floor showing between the runner and the larger area one also helps seperate the two areas. I love the open-ness of this space. One fellow tri neighbor actually built a real wall w/ a cased opening into his LR. I hate it! His foyer is a dark tunnel and feels tight and cramped. He lost all the beautiful light coming in from his pic window. I go home and walk thru my front door and feel so relaxed. Part of the reason our arrangement works is that all the furniture fits the scale of the room. The sofa and chairs are of a smaller rather than a massive scale. There is a mix of open legs (chairs, side table, washbench) and solids (secretary base and skirted sofa). It's not a lot of LITTLE pieces (which can be way too busy), but it's not under or over filled w/ too large of pieces. I believe scale is huge in the overall comfort and function of a room. This can be hard to do in our tighter Tri's and Quad's. I think that screens and sofa backs have their places... but to me they are too massive and dismissive feeling. Too solid. Perhaps try something like we have done and see if that helps you achive the desired effect. Sorry that I can't post pics!

We can't get that tile anymore, and like the wood (or wood look!) better for the foyer area. I'm not ripping the tile out, it was too much $ and is awesome, it never really looks dirty! I can't imagine the project of removing it ever.

A foyer that can be closed off from the rest of the house can help w/heat/ac cost -- in the most cold or most hot days that is especially useful ... for both having a comfortable temperature and for saving money. It is possible to create a hallway between garage and the rest of the living quarters that is USEFUL. If you're also adding a garage near the front door anyway, then creating a "hall" space that is both "mud room" and "foyer" between garage and kitchen and that extends 4'-6' more to include the front door could have a coat closet near the front door, could include a "side" door to the house on the farther end from the front door that leads to a stoop or porch leading to beside the garage where the trash cans likely would be kept in an outdoor closet (possibly attached to the garage) anyway), could include a closet for a washer and dryer near that side door, could include a door to a powder room beside that, could include and a half/half door to the kitchen beside that could include a glass French door to the living area "beside" that. Any/all wall space not a closet or door could be floor to ceiling cabinets for other storage -- vacuum cleaner, broom closet, cleaning supplies -- needed storage. The kitchen could be a part of an "L" shaped open floor plan or a "U" shaped open floor plan rather than having any part of the great room one wide center dark hallway needing skylights The front porch and living room could be shaped so that front entry hallway is beside the living room rather than in front of it, keeping the living room a rectangle beside the kitchen and dining room. The master suite could wrap around the side and back corner of the dining room and also open to that porch beside the kitchen (between garage and master suite) that leads to a small (private) side patio. An exterior door from the garage could also open onto that porch/patio. Two children's bedrooms could be on the other side of the living room accessible from a small square hallway and with a three room bath and a half in between. With the right roof line, steps between that front hallway (and over some of the entry hall closets) could lead to an upstairs bonus room (or depending upon the slope of the lot, a full or partial basement could house those things) -- perhaps the equivalent of a second master suite. If you design and place the main level master suit wrapping around the dining room so the bedroom can get natural light from at least two sides -- a pair of windows on each back corner then you can place the children's bedrooms on the side with the most desirable light and add a porch or a play yard (perhaps actually fenced or with a "green fence") -- leading to a patio behind the house (visible from the master bedroom) -- something that will age well as the children age and become teens with friends visiting regularly. All that said, your home should reflect your own taste and priorities.

Yes, I realize the one picture is not as new construction. But with those size limitations. I feel like it then puts Two verticals close to the corner instead of One in the corner, and I don't think it really improves the view, it's not like opening the corner prevented blocking the Eiffel Tower or anything and the skyline is actually blocked on the left. I think it ends up as a "look what I can do" sort of trick that isn't worth the effort. The second picture with the big expanse of a single pane of glass may well be worth the expense if you have the budget. that is the true sort of voided corner that International Style architects were all over. The corner slider is the sort of thing that will get less expensive with economies of scale, and may in fact, have a positive impact on how those rooms actually work in an inside/outside blurring kind of way. For my money I would probably want the fixed glass panoramic thing unless I lived in a perfectly temperate climate completely without flying insects.