I agree with others that your DR is too small for the cabinets - even for 12" deep ones (which you might have been able to do with upper cabinets instead of base cabinets). Table size... How old are your children? How tall are you and your husband (and, if you have teens, your teens)? I'm asking b/c of your stated table size. Depth/Width...A table that's only 36" deep is generally not deep enough for most families for other than quick meals once the children hit their pre-teens or so. You really need a table that's at least 39" deep with 42" even better. If you are an above average family in height (5'7" for women, 5'10" for men), then I would strongly recommend 42" deep. We are a tall family and even before my kids hit their pre-teens we had outgrown our 36" deep kitchen table. (We eliminated that table and have used a 42" deep table ever since.) -- BTW... this is the primary reason your table cannot accommodate serving dishes - the table is too narrow. If you increase it to 42", I think you will find that you can fit serving dishes. (That's something else we discovered when we started using our 42" deep table - it can even hold all the dishes for Thanksgiving dinner!) . Length...A table that's only 6' long will not fit 8 people comfortably once your children hit the pre-teens. You should have at least 24" of linear space (some people say 30") for table seating that's 30" high (normal table height). To accommodate the end seats, you need at least another 12" for each end, with 18" much better. This means you need a table that's at least 8' long - 3 people on a side (24" for each seat) and 12" for the head of the table seat and 12" for the foot of the table seat: 12" + 24" + 24" + 24" + 12" = 96" (8') . Just so you know, I'm speaking from experience - I'm the oldest of six kids in my family. We had an 8' table in our Kitchen that was 39" wide - and we were all scrawny kids - with my two brothers around 6'2" and me at 5'10" (my three sisters are average or shorter height). It was too narrow, but that's all that would fit in the kitchen. Dining Room Size... By my calculation, your DR is only 11'5" wide by 12'5". -- I'm basing the width on the 12'1" of the overall width and subtracting 9". -- I'm basing the length on the 6'1" + 6'4" measurements shown at the top of the page in your layout . Note that interior walls are 4.5" thick and exterior walls 6" thick, so when they're included in measurements, you need to subtract off the appropriate thicknesses to get the correct room size. Note that even then, when a house is built those measurements are only approximate - the final result may be a few inches wider or narrower. Since this room is a "through" room - i.e., you get to other rooms by going through this room - as well as the main access point to the backyard, you need to be sure you have enough aisle space around the table to accommodate the inevitable traffic. -- If your table does not cross into the path to the opening side of the sliding door to the backyard, then you need 33" b/w the wall and the table (36" is better). -- If the table crosses into the opening side, then you should have at least 48". If it just partially "covers" the opening side, you can probably make do with 42". -- For the other side, where most people will be traveling to go b/w the Kitchen/Playroom to get to the Homeschool Room (HR), you will need at least 48". -- For the left end, you need 48" to allow someone to pass b/w the table and the doorway. . This means that if you keep the DR in the same place, it needs to be - without additional cabinets: -- 138" wide: 48" + 42" + 48" = 11'6" Your current width is probably fine - but only if you do not put any additional cabinets/furniture on the long walls -- 144" long: 48" + 96" table = 144" Your current length, if it's correct, is fine, as long as you don't put any additional cabinets on the wall b/w the DR and HR. . Personally, I like the idea of switching the DR and Play Room. -- This way you can put the cabinets you like in the new Play Room - and even add more storage for toys, etc. The desk could also be in that room. -- The new DR location will no longer be a "through" room. So, the width (top wall to Kitchen) should at least be: 36" + 42" + 36" = 114" (9'6"). Ideally, I would add another 6" to that: 9.6" + 6" = 10' -- Right now, the width of the that room is: 120" - 6" (exterior wall) - 4.5" (interior wall) = 109.5" = 9'1.5". I would see about adding another 10" or more, if it's possible. -- The length of the new DR is 17' (18 - 6" - 6" = 17' = 204"), which is fine, even with a 96" long table. In fact, if you did that, you could put additional cabinetry along one of the short walls. -- Length = 17' = 204" -- 204" - 36" aisle - 96" table - 45" aisle = 27" for cabinetry. . Regardless of whether you switch the rooms, I would add windows to the walls on the far right - both the existing Playroom & Kitchen. If you don't switch the rooms, I would move the door b/w the DR and HR as far to the bottom wall as possible so traffic isn't trying to maneuver around tight aisles.

It is three feet off the floor. Here's another pic showing where it sits relative to the stairs. None of our rooms are fully decorated yet. That door is the bonus room which is like a college and sport theme and the master bath is at the top of the stairs which has a country house sort of theme. The other walls of the upper floor have pictures of other vacations. The nook is pretty isolated from everything though.

EBS, your new pictures aren't enough. Instead of taking them while standing in line with the end of the house, you need to line up with the front door. And you need to show a much wider span of scenery, extending beyond the ends of your house. The camera needs to pivot widely enough so we can see the neighboring houses. Also, move in a little closer. We don't need to see as much sky.

Just ignore it. You don't want to draw attention to it and anything you put up there will just look out of place.