The Living Room, Den, Study

However, we put double doorways to the living room and den directly across the entry hall from each other, so we still have a fairly open plan despite having a separate den and living room. From the entry hall, you can see into the living room, dining room, kitchen, breakfast area, study, and even into the master bedroom and guest bathroom if those doors were left open. That's a pretty open plan!

In addition to the pool table in the den, we have sofas and chairs, TV and stereo, piano, and the dining bar that is open to the kitchen, so we will spend most of our time in the den. The living room will be primarily for watching movies on TV and for when we have company over.

The den has a "zero-clearance" fireplace which can burn wood, but we put gas logs in it. A pair of LP gas tanks under the deck fuel it. Zero-clearance means that the fireplace can be right up against the wood studs in the wall without setting them on fire.