You're going to have one heck of a xmas season, Charmion, trying out the new spaces and deciding what to toss from the storage areas.

I am seriously thinking about emptying the part of the house where (currently) my kitchen table, the extra freezer, and lots of cook book cases and the Kitchen Queen (this isn't mine, but it's similar - mine is painted in ivory enamel and doesn't have the flour sifter like that one) live. I've wondered if it would work as an informal living area with the sofa, coffee table and TV, and move some of the big furniture pieces into the nearby den. It would be better if there wasn't a six-inch step down into the den - one of my top-of-the list projects (filling in that six inches with concrete to level the house.)