I think for the size of the room there is too much furniture in it. And the size of the largest sofa is pretty big. Maybe two love seat sizes with the two chairs would be better and i believe all of the furniture is too dark in color. If you cannot cahnge any of the upholstery then bring in punches of yellow and orange or mineral blues and greens will give you more pop. The art should also have the right amount of pop. some greenery for the cocktail table and maybe on one of the lamp tables would be good. Some family pictures with a couple of candles too! The TV must be hung on the wall with a surround to hold the components and also some more accessories. There should also be a traffic flow for getting in and out of the room a little more easily than I see here. I hope this helps!

Hi---you have too much contrast in value for your space and it's a dark room---so I suggest painting all the walls ONE color and painting the ceiling with a hue toward a warm muted yellow. Painting the ceiling will make a HUGE difference in this space. Check SW's Balanced Beige and Tony Taupe for walls---pair either with SW's Softer Tan or Believable Buff. Add color with accessories. Here are photos for inspiration. Hope you find this helpful. Good Luck![houzz=][houzz=][houzz=]

Hi Nikki, It doesn't look as though you'll be able to see too much of the laundry room while you're sitting at the kitchen island - maybe a small amount if you're on the last stool towards your outer wall. I'd make the opening a touch smaller with beautiful casing around it. I would suggest making the laundry room more visually appealing if that is going to be your family's main entry. I wouldn't want to walk in my home every night and immediately see the washer and dryer. You have such a nice big space, I would possibly incorporate the W & D into the space under the stairs. I know you have stairs to the crawlspace below them , but there may be room to work it out. How far along are you in general with your project ? I would suggest a slightly smaller master bedroom and increase the size of the master closet a bit. I would also get away from the completely open concept layout in your kitchen, living, and dining areas - this is going to prevent you from painting your dining room a different color. You can still maintain that open look by just adding a small wall return on each side of your dining room with a nice cased opening. Christopher @ Columbus Custom Design

We recently finished an addition, the advice I got when I started was take your initial budget and plan on the end product costing double that. That advice wasn't far off. In fairness, most of the added expense was wants rather than needs, if we had just done a basic structure and put budget finishes in, we could have gotten off much cheaper. With a big complex project (and I think any addition qualifies here) if you are expecting to get this done cheaply because people are friends or owe you favors there is a good chance you are going to be disappointed in either the end quality or the end cost. You should also understand that a lot of this is going to be SPENT money rather than INVESTED money. 7k sounds like kind of a lot for the basic architecture to just get a cost estimate.