If you don't have a family room, maybe you do want an opening into the living room?Otherwise, people would tend to avoid having an opening into the living room. Have you lived in this house long enough to know which you prefer?

I agree with housegal200 that we don't have enough information to be of much help yet. There wouldn't be anything wrong with a wood sill in the opening if for instance it matched wood floors. But you don't have wood floors. Any plans to change the flooring?

Is the pass-through something you use? If not, would suggest you fill it in.

Yes will post more photos soon. The bench and pillows ar

The bench and pillows are at the pass through at the entry way

It appears that the 2 openings allow more light to come through. Is that reason enough to keep them?

Is the pass through window something that is functional to you? If not, you should fill in.

I will wait for the floor plan showing the pass throughs but usually they are never ideal

Sorry the house is a little messy right now, will post more pics as I clean. For now posting living room photos. Plan is remove mantle on fireplace and tile it all the way to ceiling. Another remodel plan is to remove TV from the wall and move it to bonus room upstairs. There will be a couch on the that wall where the TV is currently is, with art on top of the couch.

The flex room, seen through the pass through, right now has 2 chairs and it will be converted to dining room. With our kitchen remodel, there won’t be any space for a dinning table in the kitchen but have to fit a small breakfast table.

Thankyou for saying to close up the pass through, as it was, don’t know what to do thing from the past 12 yrs.

Below are some more photos

Thank you for the extra photos, which are very helpful. Since the pass through doesn't seem especially useful, give yourself the extra wall on the kitchen side by closing it up.

Here are some ideas for what the entryway could look like when that side gets closed up--console table or cabinet with a mirror over it; new beautiful rug; attractive pendant light. Upgrading the entryway will upgrade the new dining room.

You could also remove your closet doors and do something like this in the entryway on the closet side--add a bench, some hooks, baskets below for family members' shoes, etc.

Since the dining room will be used all the time, perhaps make the style a little less formal than your big china closet--modern upholsered chair with a traditional dining table. Modern pendant light. Art work. Keep it light to balance whatever heavier dining furniture you have.

If you have dark traditional chairs, they can be slipcovered.

housegal200 Thankyou for the inspo photos. Only question is would we have enough light in the to dining room if we close those pass throughs? close those passed

Yes indeed close off the pass throughs.

To answer your question about the light, hang a blanket over each opening to test it.

If you close the two passthroughs, perhaps you can widen the opening between them.

Design Fan That is a good idea, I will do that and see if it gets too dark

You have some massive dark pieces--china cabinet, leather sofas, huge TV screen that are visual dark holes. The gray walls are all wrong with your flooring and darken the space as well. Warm white walls--many shades lighter than your carpeting and flooring but same shade on the color deck--with large light art, more modern light fixtures would lighten everything.

Here's a living room with a sofa same shade as yours. It echoes the fireplace, also like yours. You don't need to tile it to ceiling. Just get lovely art to put over the fireplace.

Traditional LA redo · More Info

You could lighten the back of your hutch.

We don't know what your dining set is, but if you have dark chairs, paint or slipcover them. Or get a light dining room table if it's same wood as china cabinet.

Dark table, light chairs.

Traditional Dining Room · More Info

Lose all the gray walls. Sorry. So many Design Dilemma people come on with the dreary gray walls in rooms with few windows and ask how they can make the room brighter. Repaint!

housegal200 Thanks for inspo photos, they look beautiful. We are repainting and the color is BM OC 23 Classic gray. Instead of closing the wall in between to be dining room and living room, Iam thinks of shelves

And also thing of some kinda partition from entrance. Our flooring will be SanMarino Lynn Canyon.

Thinking of painting the Shelves the same color as the walls with puck lights to focus on objects

For fireplace, would be using smaller tiles white to tile all the way to ceiling . At entrance, thinking of something like below but I am not able to decide

Ask yourself and observe yourself - how often do you look up at the front door when you are in the kitchen. When the kids come home? When the ama zon package arrives? When the doorbell rings? Would you miss the visual access?

Pass throughs above seating looks awkward and makes no sense. Shelving with display items sbove seating just feels risky.

jinwpg do you have an alternative design suggestion?

auntthelma I don’t think I will miss the pass throughs. Isn’t an open concept more good to have view of the whole house instead of having pass throughs?