Any ideas!?

hmm... not many people on here, huh?

Got a question. Does the long hallway take you to the main part of the house or upstairs? Also, when you enter are you going left to the main part of the house? Is your intention to draw your attention the room to the left or do you want to have your attention take you down the hallway? Is there a room at the end of the hallway? What will be the purpose of this room? What do you want the focal point to be in these rooms? What is the main style of your home? What kind of finishes have you picked? Oh yeah you got to cover up that breaker panel. That will be an eyesore. You have time to move it since you haven't started building yet. Sorry to ask so many questions. I'm trying to visualize this.

I really think you should move the breaker box if you still can. At my house it is placed in the corner like that and it is so hard to cover up. You dont want to hang a picture in the corner of the room because it looks awkward.....or if you cannot move it can you put it lower on the wall so you can hide it with a plant? As for the false wall I think it is a great idea. Since they are such small spaces it would be nice to really define the spaces. Maybe you could use a different type of flooring in the entry, extending to the hallway to differenciate the space as well. ie. tile transitioning to carpet etc. Do you plan to put a tv in this room?? Is this your only tv room?

I agree. I think you should try and move the breaker box so that it can be hidden by a plant or tall chair. And I like the idea of a short wall next to the door and I like easyliving's idea of different flooring like tile right inside the front door and then wood or carpeting. Looking at your full floor plans, it doesn't look like you need this to be a TV room. I'd make it a quiet reading place unless there will be a lot of traffic going in and out the front door. If it's a reading space, sun exposure and lighting play into this idea. Or it can be a place for displaying family photos and treasures with curio cabinets and a chair and side table. Do you have things to show off and display?

Whoa! Comments! I havent checked this dilemma for a while and i'm happy to see some action on here. I'll start from the top with lissa's questions. The long hallway takes you to the main area of the house, living room and kitchen and out to the back patio. When you enter, to the left is the stairs going upstairs. We wanted this front sitting/entry area to set a tone for the rest of the house so we're choosing to go with wood flooring in this area to warm up the entrance to the rest of the house. We're continuing the wood down the hallway which leads to a 45 degree transition to carpet in the main living room and kitchen area. at the end of the hallway you will be met by a fork that will take you to the living room on the right, or the kitchen on the left that will be seperated by a granite penisula with pendant lights above. This will be visible from the front entrance when looking down the hallway. Main style of the room will be modern island with touches of asian/contemporary. There are lots of different rooms that allow us to create unique spaces that each have a different style that compliments eachother. Thanks for the input on the breaker panel. I'll see if we can get it moved to another room or out of the way somewhere. If we need to keep it in this room, i'll see if we're able to move it lower so we can cover it easier.

easyliving: Thanks again for stressing relocation of the breaker box. Now that I think of it, i'll see if we can get it relocated to a different area. Great idea on moving it lower as an alternative. We're still playing with the idea of a false wall to break up the spaces, but we may just use furniture to define each space instead of something so intrusive a pony wall. I think we'll find a peice of furniture that can be functional, like maybe a shoe rack or book case that can be placed jetting outwards to split the spaces and create separation. We are not planning to have a tv in this room as we'll have specific areas for a/v entertainment. This room is really meant to open up the entrance, create a warm and inviting feeling for the rest of the house. The idea is that this sitting room will be a quiet area for reading or just relaxing. There are 3 large windows and this is in the front of the house, so sun is available for natural lighting. The furniture for this room will be an antique (70+year old) koa furniture set that is being refinished. There is 1 couch, 2 chairs and a matching coffee table that i'll display a few coffee table books on. I also wanted to put my saltwater aquarium in this room. wanted to go with a rich accent wall and a "red coral" theme.

anne1: great input! as stated in the other comments, we're going with wood in this room and down the hallway. the hallway wood will have a 45 degree transition to a carpeted living room, seperated with a granite peninsula and a natural ceramic tile kitchen. There wont be too much traffic going in and out on a regular basis, so this would be the perfect reading spot or a place to hang out and watch the fish swim in the saltwater aquarium. As an added bonus, we've decided to arch the hallway entrance to give it a more finished look and soften the hard corners of the long hallway. These subtle archways will also tie in with the sunburst in the stairwell and lend to the dramatic entrance that we're working towards. I'll post up a few photos of the front sitting room so you can see where it is now.

Great progress. Sounds like you've made perfect decisions. I like the idea of a book shelf or shoe rack at the front door. We have a built-in cabinet that we put shoes in by our front door. I like closing the cabinet doors and not seeing all the shoes or tripping on them at the front door. I also like your idea of arching the hallway entrance. Good job. Can't wait to see more photos.

Thanks for the feedback, anne1! We just need to find the perfect peice of furniture to create the spaces. we'll be looking for it! I have some photos of the arches... our contractor gave us 2 options and we decided to go with more of an arch than just he corners rounded out. i'll post those soon!

I just looked at all the pictures of your project. Its so cool to see the evolution of your soon to be house, or should say home. It looks like it will be really great. Its hard to imagine that about 3 months ago there was nothing there. I hope you are enjoying every moment of the process although I am sure it is stressful. My husband and I did a remodel and I was so stressed that I forgot to enjoy the fact that we were creating a home that we would raise our family in. Its very exciting. Enjoy and happy building!

Aloha Ginger! Thanks for your input! It's very exciting, but as you've stated, very very stressful! I have a feeling our process is going very smoothly as our contractors are very very accomodating and are working with us every step of the way to make sure that we are satisfied. I'll be posting some entry way photos up on the main project for you to see. I can't post updates to dilemmas. Maybe Cathy is listening and can have her developers fix that!? ;)

Alright! We got our Koa furniture back from the wood worker and it's BEAUTIFUL! It came out really great! If anyone is looking for a quality wood refinisher, David McArthur did a great job on our set. Since we can't post updates on dillemas, I'll post photos of the koa furniture as an update on my main project. I also got my fish tank setup and running, so we're almost there! Just need to pick out cushions and covers, task lighting and accessories. Stay tuned!