We remodeled a 1959 house once you remove the sheetrock be ready to replace everything is worth it, new electric,new insulation and you can check for any damage wood that needs to be replaced, we added 14 inches round skylights in each bathroom we never have to turn on the light in the day time the best thing ever. We found a carpenter/contractor and artist he put so much pride in each cabinet that he built that all the house cabinets get big complements he built them in the property so he could check all the other people that we hired to do the other jobs, I had the chance to choose every board of African Mahogany that we used for every door in the house they are beautiful.Before we started remodeling when the house was empty we took pictures of the interior and exterior and printed them in a letter size paper in black and white and made several copies of them, we drew all the cabinets options, we added hight to the ceilings sinks etc. this help us visualize cabinets, floor tile,windows etc, in the exterior we planned our landscape and walkway I felt like a kid again drawing all my ideas. If you have a chance use universal designs in case you want to stay in the house until you get old or maybe your parents or love ones can have better access in your home, rolling shower, entry ramps and this is the time to do it ,the workers are already there in your home.Enjoy the process, keep a binder with clear pockets sheets and keep all the paint sample you will need them someday,receipts, pictures and everything in between you will be glad you did.Do not be afraid to look for scratch and dent appliances they come with a warranty and sometimes you can not even see the defect and buy expensive tiles for 50 to 70% off ask the big tile store where they sale their left over tile they might have a warehouse closer than you think ,usually they discontinue their tile when they have 2.000 sq.feet or less that is enough for a small room or bathroom always buy a few extras Enjoy the ride.

Roo - speaking of "smokers" .. years ago at work, they were revamping an office with suspended ceiling tiles. It originally was an outer office for a secretary, and inner office for the boss .. who smoked cigars (we're talking 30+ years ago). When the partitian came down between the two offices, you should have seen the difference in the color of those absorbant ceiling tiles .. the ones in the boss's office were a dirty yellow-brown. I just thought .. "and God knows what his lungs look like!"

Bought a new build house in London, Ontario about 14 years ago. Upgraded the insulation in the attic to R60. Finished basement with R10 rigid foamboard along the concrete wall, and R13 batt insulation between the studs (R23 wall). Added Lifebreath 155ECM HRV for fresh air. Changed tank water heater to a Navien NPE-210A tankless (beware if you have teenagers, hot water never ends!). Added 3M window film to master bedroom windows (5 of them facing southwest). Sprayfoamed wall between garage and main floor, and sprayfoamed the garage ceiling (bonus room is master bedroom above garage). Fully insulated the garage with ROXUL, it can be -20C outside, and temperature in the garage is -4C. Planning to purchase 10 triple-paned (North Star) windows this week, krypton gas filled, with two low-e coatings on them for the upstairs of our home. We'll likely buy 5 more triple-paned windows this fall to complete the house. Added a fibreglass door from the main floor to the garage. Blower door test was 3.14 ACH 50pa about two years ago, hoping to get that under 3 with the new windows.

If you google "four seasons room">Images you will get quite a bit of inspiration. There are no rules. What separates the new construction from the existing will help answer the question "Any ideas on flooring that would work best in this space" I am inclined to think: Wood to match the adjacent if no separation exists and you wish the space to read as a whole, or wood/carpet if there is a physical separation (in which case carpet comes into play). Wicker furniture does not hold very long in my experience. Also, since you indicated: "...we already have a living room and great room so we don't need more"living space"... " how do you plan on using this room?