Whoa! Breaks on! I would not do anything until you move into this house and live in it at least 3 to 6 months. You need to see how it will function for your family.

However, food for thought:

- The coat closet area gives a sense of foyer - don't remove it. You can face a sofa into the room with it's back to the front door and put a sofa table behind it. This will give a sense of not walking right into the room.

- Is it your intention to put in a fireplace? You probably won't know this until living here for awhile.

- Do you want to see straight into the dining room when you first enter - you mentioned sight lines.

- You can cut the pony wall back 3 or 4'.

- If you cut the wall back you might decide to use the current living and dining areas as only living areas. You can then put your dining in front of the sliders - thus, do you need a formal dining area.

- You could use rugs to differentiate areas in open floor plans.

- Putting island in kitchen? Removing 4" countertop backsplash and putting in a backsplash?

The reason your home was so low compared to other sales was probably those floors. Have you had flooring contractors out to quote new floors? All that tile removal and then new floors is easily a 3 week project and ideally you do NOT want to be in the home during this messy (and loud) project. If you plan to remove any walls that should also be done before you tackle new floors. So, either you’ve thought about all this and planned your move in around it or you know what you’re in for when you do....Summary: furniture layout shouldn’t matter right now. If you feel in over your head it would make sense to get local pro help.

A few details: before we move in the floors will be updated throughout the house, the walls enclosing the stairway will be removed and replaced with a railing, and we are considering moving the back door closer to the "dining area" to expand the size of the kitchen with possible island seating.

My thoughts when I read similar posts: why are they buying this house? We all want to put our personality/lifestyle into our homes but purchasing a house with the thoughts "We'll take down this wall, remove this, etc without a real plan just makes little sense to me. I agree with the advice to live there for a period of time before making any changes

Yes shirlpp read that. But didn’t assume their wish list had actually been planned and priced. Removing that much ceramic tile - once priced out - scares most people. Assuming they know the plan (with all those knocked down walls) they can post it for furniture layout recommendations. I see those pony walls as a solution to work with columns that are pricey to move. Not to mention rerouting electrical. I say do all the pricing of that stuff and see where you are at before you worry about furniture. If you just want to move in as is and wait and plan then I say move in and try things out. We don’t know the OPs actual furniture so....

thinkdesignlive thank you for the comment, we have 3-4 months before moving in, knowing the extent of the work we want to have done. Move in would be end of Feb

shirlpp Thank you- that is definitely something to consider. Was simply wondering about opinions from a design angle, as it seems most other houses I've looked at have no issue with the front door opening into the living room, but to me this is a little strange.

jck910 thank you for the comment. I understand my post focuses on the negatives, but we love the house. The size is perfect for our family, that large of a lot is almost unheard of in our area and first home price range, and aside from the above mentioned I am very happy with the other aspects of the property. However the downstairs threw me for a loop, so figured I'd get some outside opinions as I will need to buy some furniture for the place come move in as well. My husband's uncle is a contractor, and has given advice for the changes we planned to make. I have also kept resale in mind when planning these changes, keeping the cost of remodels below what the house is realistically worth, and only doing things that will add value to resale.

Current thoughts- though it may always be a somewhat awkward entry, I am thinking the front space may serve better as a design oriented dining room (less formal and more farmhouse which is our style anyway) with mudroom elements on the wall upon entry like hooks and a bench. Our table is reclaimed wood with bench seating, and we are not particularly formal people lol

I would feel more comfortable answering the door in a dining space, rather than giving strangers a clear view into a private and lived in part of our home.

I feel this may also eliminate the need to always keep a tidy living room (nearly impossible with little ones running around).

But as you all suggested, it will be hard to know until we have lived in the space a while and made it our own.

I am thinking a set up similar to the below on the inside wall where the stairs are, with our reclaimed wood table in the space where the couch would have been.

With this set up, I think I can live with keeping the pony wall and save a good amount of cost there (almost positive that wall is load bearing).

I also love the panelling, and hope to do that at some point as well to give the front room a wow factor.

Have you found out if the post for the pony wall are load bearing? As that may also drive what you can or can't do.

tedbixby I have not. I assumed it was (just for a worst case scenario mentality) but we have a contractor walking the property on monday to give estimates and opinions

Taylor please post a dimensioned plan and pictures of furniture you own. If you are buying some new items and it seems some spaces will be ‘multipurpose’ it’s important to get a plan worked out. At a minimum it gives you sizing for when you are shopping for new pieces. Good luck with your new home!

Without a to scale drawing of the whole space we really can’t give realistic help. IMO you have an entry and the only people using that garage entry will be your family and the fact you have a closet there is a plus and most peolpe who come to your house do not come to see your space but to visit you and if you are expecting company then a quick clean up of kids stuff is all you need to do. We all have alife that includes untidiness from time to time/. The fact that you have 4 months is IMO a good time frame to really get a designer involved with your plans BTW often contractor are not who should be deciding what and where the load bearing walls are. I always find it hard to get a feel for how a space will function until you are in it for a while so really sit down with a good designer preferably one that also does kitchen design and really think through your decisions.

Taylor, I am Akhilesh from Styldod. I see that your room has ample space, so you could easily make room for two living/ conversation spaces. One at the entrance can be the slightly formal one, and a second one beyond the pony wall can be for more private time. The dining can then be placed near the sliders. I would not recommend moving your dining to the front room simply because it would be further away from the kitchen. The images below are estimated to scale for your room based on the plan and photos you shared.

I would also suggest you consider another layout with an island kitchen, dining, and a living room. I like to add a narrow privacy screen at the entrance to the living room and create a small foyer. This could solve the 'awkward entrance' problem. An island kitchen would also look great in your house and can act as an informal seating area as well. With such a large house, the options are plenty.

You can edit the 3D build I made here. You can also schedule some time for a styling session with me here.

@Taylor, let me know your views on the layout. I am making one more layout without the wall between the seating area and the dining space. let me know if you have any specific ideas in mind. interact with your 3D designs here.

I don't see a problem with the floor. Looks like attractive tile, in an easy-to-live-with neutral and thoughtfully installed. With a few colorful rugs with subdued patterns to anchor living areas, it will look fantastic. I would recommend putting money into rugs and furniture, rather than flooring demolition and new installation, which will be $$$$$$.

I agree that you should reconsider ripping out all the floors. I think they are nice and if you are into farm house style they kind of match that style. I would however consider painting the walls a different colour. I think the grey walls do not match the floor tiles and that is probably why the floor sticks out soo much and u think its ugly. Get some colour cards from the local paint shop and find out what colours match that tile.
I have the ugliest bathroom floor that I am not able to replace because too costly. I ended up painting the bathroom walls a bright turqoise (a colour I never would have chosen normally) but it matches the floor and now nobody notices how ugly it is.
I like your idea of having the dinning room in the room facing the entrance door and then the living area opposite the kitchen. I think that is the nicer space. If u have room add an island in the kitchen, with some bar stools so kids can sit around it while u are messing around in the kitchen.