Thanks everyone for the compliments and good wishes! We can't believe how well it turned out either. We agonized a lot over which seating to order. Even though we played around with layouts on paper, I was worried that the theater seating group would be too big but I really wanted 3 seats there. The room feels much more spacious with the new seating then with the old couch - I think that's partly its a visual illusion because this one looks less bulky and partly the Space is less deep than on the old couch with its bulky cushions. mtnfever, the Couch Color pageant definitely helped us get clarity on the right color. For those who missed it, I highly recommend the approach of making large samples of a color to consider instead of trying to imagine with a tiny sample chip. I'll link the thread below for those who didn't see it. We knew we wanted to get rid of the hearth when we bought the house decades ago, but it took a long time to get around to it. On the other hand, I don't think we would have made as good decisions if we had replaced it back then. Bcafe, in the stores, they use the Stressless name and logo more than the Ekornes one so it would be easy to think that the company wasn't around. They still have the Ekornes non-reclining couches and chairs too. The website is www.ekornes.com/us. Enduring - yes it wasn't in scale and was way too dark. Even more, I hated it because it was fake stone. It always looked really fake to me though I've had others who were sure it was real stone. Gooster, yes all the front speakers are behind speaker cloth sections in the cabinets. The center is between the two drawers of the credenza; left and right on pull out shelves in the far left and right cabinets. The subwoofer is the black box on the floor and the rear speakers are white and mounted near the ceiling - you can see one in the first picture. Yes, we moved the fireplace to the right - doing so was only slightly more work than tearing out the hearth and installing a new one where the old one was. The hearth was fake stone on a metal mesh backing over a wood frame so that was much easier to remove than it looks like it would be. There wasn't a solid brick or stone chimney - just a flue pipe to remove and this is on an inside wall - the works were all in the empty space between the faux stone and an interior wall - so there was no external chimney to move to match except a little box on the roof. This is a one story which also makes moving things easier - the main work of moving it was patching the old hole in the roof and making a new one for the new flue to go through. We had moved it too far to be able to slant the flue to reach the old hole. When our GC took out the old hearth, there were some surprises. A joist had been cut for the old flue to go through the ceiling and it hadn't been sistered or anything - just two joist ends hanging in space in the ceiling. Our GC repaired that. There were electrical outlets on the bottom of the hearth and there were wire junctions just hanging in space inaccessible under the heart where the wiring was connected to wires from the wall. The fireplace was apparently a very early addition to the house poorly done. The TV is 65" - the size was chosen to be big enough that text viewed from the couch when using the screen for the media computer would be about equivalent to looking at text on a desktop computer screen. Also it works nicely for viewing while cooking and yet isn't overwhelming from the couch. The gap could accommodate a 73" screen, but I prefer having a little space around the screen. CEFreeman, the knobs took a lot of thought and work. He has made things like bowls and salt shakers before but never has made things that need to match as a large set. I came up with an initial design for the profile after seeing something similar in a magazine and then he made some initial variations so we could perfect the diameter, height and shape details. Then he made about twice as many as we would need since these are done freehand and the wood also varies. I sorted them into matched pairs and we used the best matches on the pairs of doors where the knobs are right next to each other in the wide cabinet and the credenza. We also put matched pairs on the left and right opening tall cabinets in case they are ever in a room where they are right next to each other. He also repairs furniture and is the only reason we still can use the rather fragile dining table chairs we have. But he does full time day care for our youngest grandchild so I only get so much project time from him. Bellsmom!! Yikes - so that's why we had to replace the hearth - to keep trolls from hiding there. I love your concept - so did my husband. (The eyes were elevations I made of our plans for the wall. When I asked about vertical blinds on the Home Decorating forum, there were a lot of people who were anti-vertical, but for the windows and style of this house, I think they are the best solution. Part of some peoples objections were based on cheap industrial metal verticals. These ones have fabric laminated to plastic for the vanes so they are quieter. We popped for the backstaker option so when partially open the stacked vanes are at the edge of the windows. We also like that the blinds can be tilted to block sun when needed while still letting us see the yard and monitor grandchildren on the patio. Marti8a, we chose to keep the same wood for the cabinets as in the kitchen - natural cherry - because we already have several woods in the area - maple floor, oak breakfast table and counter stools and some dark unidentified wood for some of the original built-ins and breakfast room doors. To differentiate them from the kitchen cabinets (because I didn't want the family room to look like the kitchen had extended into it), so we chose a different door style - a more sophisticated mitered corner raised panel instead of shaker, but still with simple lines and furniture style knobs instead of big kitchen ones. Here is a link that might be useful: Couch Color thread

I'm having a hard time seeing all the details in the pic because it's too small. Is it possible you could post a larger picture? I think you'd get more responses. Plus provide some details about what you want from the space. Do you need/want seating/eating space in the kitchen? Kids? How many cooks? From what I can see, you don't have anything on that run of cabinets on the bottom. I can't see that area serving any purpose. You certainly won't use it for working or preping. I'd be inclined to get rid of that run of cabinets entirely and use that space to make the island larger. Then I'd add a prep sink to the end of the island by the fridge. BTW, when you start a new thread, it remains at the top of the board until you start getting responses. When you responded to your own post, your thread started dropping down the board. Try posting larger pictures so people can see the details and provide more information all in one post. I think that would help a lot. :)

Completely understand all of that, having the dishwasher behind us would work in the same way as it would be very close when the door is open but the only other option is to put the dishwasher next to the sink and then have to move the range to the only other wall that you could use for it which is the back wall next to the fridge. I guess we could move it to the right of the sink but it would be just as far away or more than in the island What nobody is asking or knows is our preferences like I don't want my back to everybody in the kitchen while I'm cooking, so having the range in the middle of the kitchen makes it easier for me to see what's going on in the living area to my left, talk to my wife or kids when they are prepping things in the sink and talk to the people at the island easier. Does any of that make sense as to why the layout is that way?

Hi everyone! It's great to get input from the Houzz community. My husband was active duty AF for 27 years and we're finally making this house our own. Thanks so much for the great feedback particularly from @damiarain and @caligirl5. Also, I am working with a KD. I’m so grateful that you both took time to give in-depth suggestions and actually provide a revised layout. In response to your suggestions: - Fridge - Damiarain, IMO, Moving the fridge to the wall proposed on the end of the counter would make it stick out too much and the sides would show whereas one side is hidden by the stub wall now. We considered removing the stub wall but it’s pretty involved so we opted to take down the pantry only. Furthermore, as shown in the 1st and 2nd pics, the great room is across from the kitchen and I personally prefer the look of cabinets on that wall complemented by a new staircase and not a fridge protruding out. Also, the space isn’t very wide in the entryway and an open fridge would definitely block someone’s path into the kitchen from the great room if placed in the end. It might work in the center of the wall, however. - Damiarain, you said, “have upper cabinets only on either the wall next to the pantry or next to the fridge.” What would I do with the entire open space where the fridge presently is…that’s losing 83” on the fridge wall? Besides, I need the extra storage for all the stuff I've gathered at our various assignments. - I understand your suggestion about moving the range and it’s valid. The wall is 154” and we’re cutting down the width of the new pantry to 31” whereas the current pantry opening is 44 ½”. I’ll have to talk to my KD about the lack of sufficient prep space on the left. You’d think that would be a major consideration in presenting her design. However, I am installing a counter level bar which will give me lots of space to the left of the sink (above the dishwasher) yet it doesn’t resolve the issue of someone washing dishes and another cooking on the range. I don’t know what the answer is but there has to be one. - Good point about leaving breathing room around the hood and going with more drawers whenever possible. - @caligirl5…I have the sample block for antique white but it doen’t work well for my house. We live in Florida and have lots of windows so I need a more contemporary look although I don’t want bright white. I’m now thinking gray may be the answer since all the other whites may clash with my bright white crown molding. - Sorry about the dimensions and thanks for your recommended layout. I have a thing about storage and have lots of dishes/glasses so I don’t know about getting rid of the cabinets on the fridge wall entirely and putting. Furthermore, as stated previously, I’m concerned that a large full depth fridge on that wall may really be in the way vs. being tucked where it is now. - A previous design had the microwave across from the range in a drawer pretty much where the cooktop is now. I opted to put the microwave in the pantry and put large drawers there instead. I've attached pics of a new design keeping the same footprint with ceiling height cabinets and a picture of the torn down stair taken from my great room. I will definitely give all of your recommendations more consideration and I’m really thankful for the help.