Have you put models of the furniture onto the floorplan? The small bedrooms are quite small -- 8'6" = 102" which means a twin bed with a quilt (40"+) snugged tight to one wall will leave about 5' in room width which is not very much. If you don't snug the bed to the wall (and against the window which *not* a good idea) then one would have to sidle sideways to move around it. And where will a bureau be put -- and could one open the bottom drawer all way out? I don't object to small bedrooms but I do think pushing the vacuum while standing sideways is awkward. Or to put it another way-- which is bigger, the bedroom or your car? Measure before answering. Figures on the plan: 7'7" + 3'3" does not equal 11'1" My usual refrain: Narrow doorways are extremely difficult to maneuver even without crutches. Pick up your loaded laundry basket -- and your fists on the handles will extend wider than your body: measure the distance between outer side of left fist and outer side right fist ... my small basket requires 34" doorways if I plan to go through without smacking my knuckles into the doorframe. The plan shows 32" doorways into BRs and bath (PR has 30"). Yes, you can use the skinny widths, but I truly doubt you'll be happy with them even if no one ever breaks an ankle. Your plans don't have to be handicapped-accessible, but remember that there are no guarantees against accidents... and it's really miserable to be in a wheelchair but worse to be in one and not be able to use the bathroom. And you'll need some kind of a rule about rushing into the bathroom. I can visualize Himself in front of the sink, shaving... and junior-in-a-hurry whomps the door open. I hope himself uses an electric shaver, less blood that way. Okay, it's a compact plan. That's good. There is basically good thought in the traffic flow. Obviously there are painful compromises [always happens in compact plans], which I'm sure you have considered, such as not having a place to fold the clothes when they come out of the dryer. The doorway from car to pantry is close to the kitchen and that's good.... unless those are steps between, which would be very bad (think of holding two bags of groceries, juggling for the house key, and if you have a screen door, you'll need another hand to hold that open). 3-D plans are fun, but be careful to measure the real furniture that will be going into the real-life rooms. An inch here and two inches there doesn't sound like much, but it could mean not getting the table into the dining or maybe the table gets in but no one can sit down. OT, I've lived with crawlspaces. If you do a high-R insulate, have all pipes box-framed and use removable rigid foam on one side to permit access. Sigh. Guess who had to remove insulation to access a frozen pipe which occurred during a long blizzard. That was avoidable, so learn from my mistakes.

After hearing so many of your suggestions, I now know that my concerns about the dreaded wall in my living room were legitimate. I really appreciate all the comments, ideas and helpful suggestions. This site is like having your own private staff of decorators at your disposal. Parma is right, the space was supposed to be for a fireplace, but we decided that we wanted the fireplace in the family room in the basement. Couldn't afford both. Probably was a mistake. I read your suggestions and looked again at my pictures and could see exactly what each of you meant. Things I had never noticed before. 1. The backs of the shelves do need color to make the display pop. Right now everything just fades into the background. 2. There's no cohesiveness to what's on the shelves and there is way too many things. 3. I have already taken down the two small prints on the sides of the mirror. What was I thinking? 4. The jobots are too long. I had never noticed that. Do they need to go to bottom of the window trim? 5. The mirror does not do justice to the space. It may be too small, wrong shape, something's not right. First of all, I really want the upper ledge gone. The problem is talking my DH into letting me find someone to close it in. I love the idea of finishing out the shelves as a bookcase. I think that would look wonderful. Do you think old books would look better in the space rather than newer books? I am a book collector and have many shelves full of novels in various areas of the house. Les917: I really like your idea of the Sunburst Pediment and would like to find a way to incorporate it into the redesign of the space. Any other suggestions or pics would still be appreciated because this project will take place slowly in the spring. Thanks so much in advance.

MK .. the more I see of your home, the more I love it. What a shame that you are disappointed with the backsplash though. It is very interesting.. and I think with the right pieces in your kitchen it could sing! I am thinking something dark and with a little visual weight on the plant shelf will help pull the look together. Maybe black or dark pottery pots for your plants? I also have a pretty strong thread of black in my kitchen (which is humbled next to yours) some of the things I have in my kitchen are an antique coffee grinder on the window sill..an antique potato masher that belonged to my great great great grandmother (basically a dark wood club that stands on its end) and a large granite mortar and pestal (which I use lots in the summer/grilling months). If you are going with herbs on the window sill, the mortar and pestal would be beautiful and functional! Keep it simple but thoughtful and it will look great. I'd live with the dining room as is for now-- as whatever you do in there will be affected by the table/chairs you choose. I do see a heavier piece of furniture on the wall though. Nice print. Here is a link that might be useful: granite mortar/pestal for plant shelf

Dear fellow decorators, Thanks so much for all your responses! I knew I could rely on you guys. Thank you very much for the inspiration pictures, "jejvtr." I absolutely love them, and the look depicted in all three of them is pretty much spot on what I was envisioning. However, I am realistic and I know that our end result will probably not match what is in these pictures, because yes, the stretches of brick to the left and right of the main flank of brick are uneven. Also, I could remove the hearth, as you suggest, "egganddart49," but there are electrical outlets on both sides of the hearth, so I am certain removing the hearth would require electrical know-how, and DH and I are not up to snuff with that. I don't mind having the fireplace as the focal point, anyways-it's inevitable, and with a nice large painting above I think it can look nice. "Jakabedy," our house is actually a two story traditional colonial built in 1940. I do appreciate the MCM style, although our family room is not that. It was an addition consisting of a family room built on a concrete slab with a new master on top. I think whoever did it just took various elements popular at that time (floor to ceiling fireplace, large patio windows, wooden paneling, etc.) and mashed it all together. Cheers, Anna