Wow! Lots of questions! Haha! Let's see. We live in New Orleans and are a very casual, fun, energetic family. DH and I are in our mid 30's and have a 9 year old and a 6 year old. Both kids are active outside of school. TV is a big part of our lives because of sports, movies, kids, etc. But Mike's Den is where lots of the sports programming will take place. :) We are planning to offset the TV and put it to the side of the fireplace for two reasons....1) Now that the kitchen is further over, if someone is in there, it will be more centered to the room as a whole and 2) it can be a bit lower and more at eye-level if it's not above the fireplace. We can make the built-ins accommodate the TV at a level more comfortable for viewing. There will also be a playroom/media room upstairs for the kids. So the Living Room TV will be the group/family TV I suppose. We take turns cooking but both work. So we aren't gourmet cooks but we enjoy cooking meals. We enjoy conversations from the kitchen, thus wanting the open plan. I'd say that because of kids' evening activities, we probably cook 3-4 days a week maybe? Other nights we grill or get take out, pick something up or go out to eat on the way home. The porch. The house (again, in New Orleans...flooding) must be elevated a bit). This porch is elevated with the house. I know we will also have lower space for a table and chairs and the grill, that we haven't laid out yet. We actually did talk about widening the porch. How wide would you suggest? My dad suggested 1-3 feet wider. What do you think? The front door...you see the stairs to the right of the kitchen? And the open pass-through there under the stairs in the drawing? If you go through that pass through...actually straight from the back door, you'd pass the turned stairs above you and a guest room above, master below (in the drawing) and the front door is that way. It's a narrow, New Orleans lot...50x122, which has made things interesting to lay out! :) Thanks again guys! Your feedback is great! Oh, and again, the furniture placement and the kitchen appliances, etc. is just there in the drawings as a guide. It's not fixed or anything. It's just a visual thing for reference.

I have a table between my open kitchen and family room. It's not the table we eat at. It is a clutter magnet, so I would not put a table there unless you have way more discipline than me! Is that the front door? And what's the other room across from it? One idea is to find a round piece with storage underneath and then put some kind of grand art piece or floral arrangement on it to greet people when they came in the room. But you could still use the bottom part for storage of things like shoes, scarves and hats, or whatever you need storage for . . . (dog toys??) Or perhaps a square or rectangular storage piece that looks good from all angles so it could sit in the middle. Otherwise leave it blank. My aunt and uncle had an original MCM house with a rather grand entrance. There was no furniture in it but they did have some great art that greeted you on the wall opposite the entrance, and their had an atrium window so they had some dramatic plants. Looks like you don't have enough light for plants, but I would at least investigate some kind of "greeting art" whatever that might be. My aunt and uncle collected modern art, so they had a modern sculpture on a pedestal in their living room. I might not do something that formal, but I might display, say, my collection of Japanese pottery on a cool round table . . . or some such kind of thing . . . depends on what you have or want to have . . .

Having had a "setee" which is just a loveseat by another name, I can vouch for it not being very practical. Two people can sit at it, (and they will and have in my house) but unless they are very good friends or related, it's not going to be their choice, particularly if they are doing something like watching TV. Sipping afternoon tea, maybe. But if you don't need a lot of seating, then their small size is great, particularly for curling up with a good book. It's easy enough to throw in a rocker or some other smaller less padded chairs to add extra seating. I use the end chairs from my dining room set, since unless I have guests, they make it difficult to get around the dining table in my small dining room.

I think you have a triad of spaces that can be used for separate activites. Is that pony wall a stairwell? Social/conversational seating by the FP, TV nook where you have it, and a game area (pool, foosball or poker table) in the area you asked about. Looks like a dining spot back in the kitchen, unless you need a formal dining room.