Since I am of the position that there can be such a thing as too much open floor plan I would add the wall with doors. But I would use pocket doors instead of French doors. This would resolve the issue of furniture placement. Use high quality hardware for the pocket doors.

Yes, I would likely also use big double pocket doors with high quality hardware, as well.

Diving doors can be very dangerous if the water level is low.

Dividing doors are different and may be helpful if you want to physically divide one space from another and have audio/sensory privacy.

If you desire to visually "seperate" the two space from one another, but don't have privacy issues, a large cased opening will do the trick.

Good luck on your project!

The drawback to open plans is the lack of quiet space. If you're a person who likes to read or listen to music in a place that is separate from the TV, then dividing doors make a lot of sense. It gives you flexibility to expand the open footprint when you're entertaining or close it off when you'd like a bit of peace. Pocket doors are probably a better solution for noise containment vs. french doors with glass panels. I'd also make sure you have a good portion of your hard flooring covered with area rugs to absorb sound.

Our friends have this set-up and used windowed french doors. Priceless for when the game/sound system is in use and the rest of us prefer quiet conversation. We don't feel totally separated and we're happy spending time together.

After reading these comments, I think I'm going to have it. As you guys mentioned, a) it gave a bigger room feeling, give privacy when needed and also dont completely close that space from the rest of the house.

I had the same dilemma, I staunchly fought for pocket doors and love them now. Mostly I use them to contain our dogs, but is a good sound divider. I'd definitely install them.

I've lived in Maine in the winter. I'd want a fireplace in the LR and perhaps one with a wood stove in it in the family rooms. Otherwise, neither room will be very cozy/inviting on a cold Maine winter night!

I agree that pocket doors are the ideal answer for this question. You can "pocket" glass doors.

Concerns:

- You won't be able to drive nails into the walls that contain pocket doors, so your decorating options in those areas will be limited.

- A door on this wall will somewhat restrict your furniture choices /placement.

- The door should "line up with" the double window on the far side of the rooms.

Ooh, Mark, nice idea. I was first thinking have a doorway, with or without a door, but by the stairs, not centered. The fireplace does that AND adds a nice feature that draws people into the living room and beyond :) I love houses that "interact" with people that way.

Roy, if you flip the bathroom so that the sink backs up to the kitchen desk, it can have a door to the office/bedroom as well as to the hall, making it more useful. But, the shower in there doesn't seem useful: how do you get into it??

The pantry door should swing the other way so you can get to the shelves.

bpath,

Nice observations and thank you so much. The shower is needed there as we are eventually going to use it as a bedroom.

Yes, but how do you get into the shower? The side walls are surrounded by toilet and sink, no room for a person or a door. Consider redesigning that whole space, including closets and maybe pantry, to make the shower one you can get into.

Mark, Love that idea!!!!! I could use a double sided fireplace which will heat both family room and living room. I have a question though. Does 14' wall carry enough length to have fireplace, shelves (don't need big ones) and doorways on both sides?

bpath Oh Sophie, I just reordered bathroom as you suggested here. Thanks, again. Wonderful and super helpful comments. Also, flipped the pantry door. I think now there is enough space around shower for access.

But now, it's a squeeze and a bruised hip to get to the toilet. I can't read the dimensions so I can't be sure.

If it were me, I would definitely add the opening. Solid pocket doors aren't seen as much these days but they definitely have a use. You can definitely hang things on pocket door walls, I just would not assume that you are putting your 50 lb mirror or old flat screen TV into the area of the pocket. I also like Mark's idea for using the fireplace as a separator, but only if you don't mind the two rooms being visually and acoustically open all of the time.

Ask yourself specifically how you plan to use the living room. It's a very isolated room without the family room connection. It would make a good study, quiet reading room, or music room, but I bet for anything else it would never be used. When you have smaller gatherings of guests over they would probably rather be in the back of the house, and with large gatherings the people in that room will feel cut off. We just aren't the type of society that has much use for the formal parlor for receiving guests these days. The doors give you the flexibility of having both the quiet personal room and the expansion space for gatherings.

I think it fits on your 14" wall. Using this fireplace as a placeholder (I chose it because I prefer wood, but there are lots of double sided options in wood or gas) https://www.heatilator.com/Products/Multi-sided-Wood-Fireplace.aspx, you could do:

6" wall to doorway

36" doorway

22" shelves and fireplace surround

40" fireplace

22" shelves and fireplace surround

36" doorway

6" wall to doorway

You could also make the doorways smaller, or have them right at the wall without the 6" of wall if you wanted to get more space. Or do a smaller fireplace. Lots of options.

Given where the pantry is located, I also might think about adding a hatch-type door from the garage to the pantry to send groceries through. I wouldn't want to give up the space of a full size door, but a way to set them on the pantry counter or floor straight from the garage would be convenient. Here's an example of one at floor level.

(The Houzz photo insert isn't working for me, but here's the link...)

https://www.houzz.com/photos/chris-pantry-new-addition-traditional-kitchen-chicago-phvw-vp~1772020

https://www.houzz.com/photos/cuyahogah-falls-closet-and-pantry-transitional-cleveland-phvw-vp~89858748

bpath Oh Sophie, the dimension of the bathroom is 9' x 6'.6". So, it will be decent size for the 3/4 bathroom. I can do something like this to fix it.

The specific design and dimensions would have to be worked out by the designer of the house, but here's a little inspiration:

Robie House- FLLW

Understand. But, I have a sloppy designer with not many creative ideas.

I personally would have it be a solid wall with no door and no opening. I like the idea of a place to go where it is quiet, no TV, etc. and that usually is clean and looks nice.

A solid wall will make it easier to decorate around. Walkways, especially 2, take up space and make furniture placement horrible.

Open concept can be way over done, IMHO.

I have always appreciated the ability to close the pocket door between the FR and LR spaces -- for privacy when working out, for noise control, sometimes to isolate the dog when workmen are in the house and so forth. If you have other spaces that you can/will use for some of those activities you might find the value diminished. Your FR and LRs are modestly sized (my FR is also 15x15 also) so think about how you will use each space, or use them together, and whether you will need or want to have a larger opening or if smaller will be enough.

Is the "Dining Room" a schoolroom?

bpath Oh Sophie, I didn't get your point.

Roy I like the idea of an opening in that wall for when you have get togethers you can have it be a larger space.

what does the upstairs plan look like if you don't mind

Roy, I was just curious about the room labeled "dining room", and here's why I asked if it's a schoolroom. As a dining room, it seems in an odd place, beyond the kitchen, next to the family entrance from the garage, near a kitchenette, and being a pass-through room. It seems similar to what many families who homeschool have designed. And they often label it "dining room" but intend to use it only as a schoolroom.

I guess I'm going off-topic as I did with the bathroom, since you originally asked only about separating the living and family rooms. But branching out like that often happens on this forum!

Got your point. In the original plan, I had it where the family room was with a large wall opening between the living room and the dining. But, that had a 14' x14' size and we dont really use dining room at all. Switching the positions gave me more space for the family room, freed a lot of space in the kitchen (it was cluttered before). Plus, now I have a lot of shelf and desk space in the dining room and the room is more useful.

Well, that leads me to another question, then. You have a nice big eating area, and you have an office, so why have a dining room? If you say "because future buyers will expect one", that's not a good answer because it is an odd place, although they may find it useful to store hockey gear, pen the dog when necessary, or as a craft room. But you are building this house for you, so, why have a separate dining room?

What is the kitchenette for, since we are going down that road lol? (Now I'm imagining that you host a lot of big dinners and would occasionally find an extra range useful?)

:) Valid questions

The office room will be used as a bed room. So, I dont have a "real" office room. I do work from home a lot and that dining room would be really multitasking.

kitchenette is wife's demand. So, no questions asked there :) In fact, she does lot of cooking and often cooks with spices that make the home smell like a curry. kitchenette is to avoid that. With a nice vent system, that kitchenette would help us contain the smell.

We are not really thinking about the house for sale down the road in the near future. We wan to build one as we want it and live next 30-40 years happily ever after.

Spice kitchen was my other guess for the kitchenette.

I actually like the location of the dining room as an office, that would work for me (especially if it also had a view of the front.

Why not relabel the rooms so it makes more sense? (My brother lives in a vintage condo, and has a room he calls his "studio. well it's originally probably a dining room but I don't need a dining room I need a studio so I call it a studio even though it isn't really one." He really does say all that, every time. Aargh. It's a studio.

Thanks again bpath Oh Sophie, I think your comments made a lot of improvements.

We are not big party people, but do have sizable family and friends gathering. So, that extra dining room definitely would help with the gatherings. Below is the picture I have in mind. In fact, it will be the look from the windows down to the walkway. Also, we will have in-build china/ pantry shelves on the wall.

From the mudroom door, it would look some what similar to the pics below. Cabinets on the right, walkway leading to a door to kitchen and dining set on the left.

I had amazing accordion glass doors in my 1920's era house. They were like this, but stretched across the entire opening. There were 5-6 panels, maybe a 14-15 foot opening? It has been a while and I can't really remember. They separated the living and dining rooms. They could be fixed in any position, from one door that could be opened to both accordion doors opened flat against the wall.

Nearly every person who walked into my house said "wow" when they saw them.

Have you posted your kitchen in the Kitchens forum? They are great at helping you lay out that space optimally.

Ohh good. I'll do it.

Hi @Roy curious on what you end up with for separating LR and FR? We are in similar debate... thanks!

J w, I don't think Roy is with us anymore, as his account no longer seems to be active. We probably won't ever find out how his house came out.

For the indecisive, consider archways. That way, you or the future owners, can easily add doors.

Since the OP's drive-by, we've added archways to the library/living room wall. The dining to family room divider will include a double-sided fp with a TV to the family room side.