Bar!

Have you thought about turning the family room into the dining room and letting the front room be a nice, large living room? That way you'd have one main dining space and one main living space, and each would see more use than having formal and informal spaces for each.

why don't you move the dining table to the corner with windows? then you would have a larger more usable space for your living area. just a thought.

That huge table goes into what the developer is calling the "Family Room" with a pair of high-backed upholstered chairs at the ends of the table (Wing Chairs?) and the "Living Room" is where the sofas and lounge chairs belong.

I would put the dining table the other way and make a small seating/reading area in the other half. Maybe a chaise and a chair or two chairs and a shared ottoman by the window. A large plant by the window and bookcases on both sides of the fireplace. Not a bad problem, having too much space!

if i had looked a little closer i may have come up with the same idea as farmhousemoderne. ;) it makes a lot of sense.

i think it would work better to have the table crosswise in the room. gives a more nearly square shape to the dining room area, and the living room area.

Bar was my immediate thought. There's some great mid-century bar carts if you wanted something from the time period.

thank you for providing the floor plan! do you have to keep the table open all the time & will you use it all the time? the idea of nesting the table by the window, without the leaves (store them in the back of the closet), is good, with the buffet next to that, if it fits, so all the dining action is together, then sofa/loveseat with chairs at the fireplace. can right-angle sofa/loveseat to fireplace so it faces windows & have two chairs w/ little table between (maybe two loveseats facing each other?) or have sofa/loveseat face fireplace, floating in middle, w/ chair on either side. can do coffee table(s) between. be careful not to have the traffic pattern flow through the middle of the seating area, which might happen if you put the sofa against the back wall. if the table must be folded out, could you use the second scenario & have the table operate as one giant console abutting the sofa? you might lose the use of one long side of the table, tho'. the last concern is those end tables people like for drinks & lamps; the cords can be trip hazards if the lamps end up in the middle of the room. if the table is by the window, you can put a nice bookcase, standing lamp, single chair & have a reading nook across from the stairs.

I like the dining table as it is located near the kitchen for easy entertaining.
I assume that you will hang an amazing chandelier over the dining table :)
Next, I would grab a grouping of 4 chairs (comfy and loungelike) and add them to the rest of the room in a circle formation. Then add an organic, mod coffee table piece/artifact with another complimentary fab light fixture over that piece. Great retreat for conversation after dining!
Also a wonderful perspective to view your outdoor view outside the windows.
Congrats on your new home!

$$$: Cadillac. It's sculptural and pretentious and you don't even have to use it for pilates.

$$: Low slung leather chaise and some huge art

$: Your nordic track, a smaller lcd tv, and a good remote

I agree with Farmhousemodern or Gingergirl. My first thought was to put the table in the family room near the kitchen. Then you can have a large seating area in the living room.

If you don't like, I would turn the table horizontally in the LR and create a seating area by the window.

Thanks for all the great comments.

I definately want the dining table in the front room and not the back. From years of having the kitchen seperate from some seating and TV, I am looking forward to being able to talk to my husband while I undertake my lenthy cooking experiments. I am looking for this space to be more formal but still intimate. Will be thinking hard about moving the table. Need to decide soon as the light fixture placement has to be finalized.

What a fantastic dining room! Is the buffet open to the kitchen, or an older, floor-to-ceiling built-in with storage space?

Since it sounds like this will be a dedicated formal dining area, and particularly if your entertaining tends to center on big meals, centering the dining table along the 22' wall with the fireplace would be cozy. A bar cart and seating area along the 28' wall, and another seating area near the windows would encourage pre- or post-meal lounging.

if no bar, bookshelves and chair reading nook

As a non-drinker, the bar idea doesn't appeal at all to me - but from the plan, it looks like that space would make a fantastic seating area. I know you said you didn't need seating, but the area by the windows seems like it would be a great place for dinner guests to gather before a meal (and it would get them out of the kitchen and out of your way, which is a big plus in my book!), and it would be a great place for you to curl up with a good book. A chaise lounge, a couple chairs, and a cocktail table would definitely do the trick. And, depending what you have going on on the fireplace wall, the 6' windowless wall seems like it would lend itself well to shelving.

A great thing I had in our "extra space" growing up was an expandable buffet that also doubled as storage for all the silver. In the extra corner, my mother had a lovely tray stand that during non-eating times held a beautiful bowl w/ flowers in it and during eating times she put the wine/spirits on for easy serving.

We have a slightly smaller room - in our case the only living/dining space in apt. We switched dining room table (we keep leaves under bed most of time) to window area after a false start. Additional steps from kitchen are trivial and in ten years no major food spills in transit. We like dining in good natural light. Interior area has our chairs and bookshelves -- space is mostly used for reading at night.

I don't suppose you have a grand piano?
I hate this type of wasted space and you see it all the time.

I don't blame you for wanting the dining table in the living room. Most people prefer the open kitchen/family area for exactly that reason.

I'm not conviced putting a seating area in the living room will draw people out of the kitchen. Most likely, guests will end up in the kitchen and family room. What is it you do most often that you think I wish I had more space for, that's what you need it for. An office, a library, a workout room, craft room, a video game/board game area with a large low coffee table and some cushions by the fire.

You said you do cooking experiments. Then make it a little area where you can look at and store recipe books, maybe have a chalk board or wall to write your experiments and changes and ideas before making it permanent. If you want the area to be more private, look into sliding doors (AT has tons of posts on this) or panels.

If you didn't want to move the table to the Family Room which seems like the easiest solution, this room would actually be really great (grand) dining room.

Have you actually put your table in this space with chairs? If it's 120" plus chairs plus room for people to get by and this room is nearly perfectly sized. I think that the size of the table in the drawing is smaller, maybe that's it without the leaves?

Try centering the table on the fireplace and adding an area rug. You could flank the fireplace with bookshelves or china display cabinets and possibly have a pair of arm chairs in front of the fireplace. I would put a bench built-in or not in the window nook.

It seems like AT could be helpful and orient the plans the same way.

I agree that the table would be better in the back room with the living room furniture in the front. Add some bookshelves to the back room to fill in some space and add storage.