We are renovating the entire main level, and are a little stuck on what to do with just this wall. We are considering some sort of built in, or a bar (and closing in the upper area...maybe?) Making the nook wider is an option. Almost anything is an option.

This room will be half formal living space and half dining room. So the offset would mean having the living space on the side of the fireplace and the dining room on the side of the alcove (not set in stone, but this makes sense to us). See the last photo for proposed layout.

The second two photos are from when we purchased the house (you can see we recently removed the wood insert to see what we’re working with). This is in a bumpout located on an external wall, there’s about 9 feet total to work with.

We definitely want to keep the gas fireplace, although moving it slightly IS an option. The fireplace insert itself is about 3 feet wide. New tile is a must and the floating hearth is as good as gone. Aside from keeping the fireplace in some fashion, we’re almost open to anything, just want to make the most out of this space. We plan to live here a while longer, but I’m always thinking about resale.

Pictures would be appreciated as I’m very visual!