Linda, I think people would jump to help you if you posted some pictures of your kitchen, so they could see what you're talking about with the floor. Are you able to do that?

oasisowner, you could get a home that functions much better for you if you're willing to do it in phases and are willing and able to spend more $$ on the remodel. Here's how: Phase 1 Basement stairs doorway relocated to hallway (I explained how in an above post). Knock down the wall between kitchen and 3rd bedroom to create an open kitchen/DR. I did not include counter seating since the table is right there. Remove the lower half of the "windows" in the LR/hallway walls so that you have a better connection between kitchen/DR and LR. (This could wait until Phase 2, if necessary, but you'd have to add floor repair at that time, might be easier and cheaper to do it all at once.) The current DR becomes a den; no walls or doors added. Phase 2 You close off the "windows" from LR to den and create new walls for a relocated MBR, MBA and closet in its own wing of the home. Next, remove the existing MBA to create bedroom #1 with a new entry. Closets for bedrooms #1 & #2 are built between the 2 bedrooms. I'm assuming existing closet in bedroom #2 is along a wall so relocating it should create a larger bedroom. Rearranging the bedrooms and eliminating the existing MBA could wait for Phase 3. Or you could leave them as is and have a dual master bedroom home. This is a much larger undertaking but I went back to the issues you have with your home - not a large enough kitchen, unused DR, too small bedrooms - and addressed them with this plan. Doing the projects in phases will make it easier on the budget and on one's sanity. If you intend to stay put for a long time, then it might be worthwhile to pursue remodeling to gain a home that functions better for you now and in the long run, especially if your neighborhood will support these improvements.

Do you use reading glasses as sold at drug stores? Not intended as a snippy comment, if you don't maybe you should. And you may need a higher power of magnification for PC use than you'd use for general reading. Many do use them for PC screens - images and fonts can be hard to read, that's a common problem for seasoned citizens. As for me, my near-sighted self wears glasses with progressive lenses for close vision but with some laptops, I need to take my glasses off because the distance can be too far for the reading part of the glasses and too close for the distance part. Often I need to move the screen back and forth until the images are clear. Maybe some of these tips can help you.

It would help to know what's underneath the paneling, or at least whether it's real wood paneling. If it's real wood and you just don't care for the color, I think painting it would be a better option than tearing it down. All the houses in my childhood neighborhood, built in the 1940s, started out with large fir wall panels that were about 6' wide and went floor to ceiling in every room. By the 70s (when I was growing up), most people had wall papered, or at least painted, most of their walls. Other than the seams every 6' or so, the painted panels looked like drywall as the grain wasn't prominent. When my best friend's family moved in, they nailed cheap laminate style paneling (in various shades of pickled oak) on top of the actual wood paneling!!! I remember my parents being horrified, though as a little kid I didn't understand their perspective. Now I understand.