It all depends on whether you're hoping to use your existing furniture in a new configuration (and what pieces you have) or are looking to custom make the space. I could see a sofa across from a large, narrow table that could serve as a work top, occasional eating area, and perhaps hold a small tv if wanted. That said, my own dining room is 8' wide x 10' long (open to the living room, and separated from the kitchen by a half wall) and it is plenty big to hold a dining table that seats 6. Maybe a narrower dining table placed off-center might be a solution too.

Nothing! Keep it open and breathing...

We have the exact same space! solution was a wall of 3 white billy bookcases from ikea, a gorgeous white rug and a comfy chair with a reading light.

Reduce the clutter.

It looks like you are using it as an office right now. Stick with that theme but make it better!

I agree to remove the chandelier and use a table lamp on the desk.

If you have a larger budget you can have a built in desk area along the wall. Otherwise think bigger desk/armoire desk. Add a nice rug. Keep it neat and decluttered with nice boxes holding your papers and bills.

Reduce the clutter (including the stuff on the fridge) and look at it for a few days. You have to change out the ceiling light unless you're going to put a table under it. And even if you're not.

Haha, I have the same thing except it's actually its own little "room" with an entryway from the kitchen and into the living room. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it - I have my big table out in the "living room" which works for me, and I've just taken to calling the little room in between my "kitchen foyer," and that's where I have a china cabinet and a little table with my toaster, etc. But I'm thinking of moving my desk in there, you know, because obviously you want to step right out of the kitchen into the office.... Oh, floor plans.

My first suggestion would be to rethink your dining room table. Perhaps purchase a slightly smaller/narrower one, you can reuse your chairs, then you can use the space as intended.
If that is not an option, then make it a library. Move the bookcase across, next to the desk and use pretty boxes to corral clutter. Add an area rug. Place a floor lamp and comfy reading chair in the corner where the small desk is. And, I agree with other posters, say goodbye to the chandelier.

I would separate the kitchen and office areas by turning that bookshelf perpendicular to the fridge. Added bonus, the side of the fridge would be covered. I hate seeing the coils back there from a living room. Then neaten up everything, situate the desk in the middle of the wall it's on, and set the cute dresser on the opposite wall with a piece of art above it and a lamp on it.. Address the lighting, too. A swag light kit would do the trick to get the light above the desk.

Remove the light fixture ahead and replace it with something sleek. Also clear up the clutter with shelves over the desk (West Elm has an awesome array of shelves) and remove the drawer and add a slim file cabinet - a vintage metal piece which would fit nicely with the black bookcase, and maybe even switch your chair for a modern one. A floor lamp would also brighten up the space. A rug will also help tie the rooms together.

I'm assuming you like your dining room arrangement and you are using all the same furniture. Therefore, I would switch the areas within the photo and have the living room closer to the kitchen and the desk area closer to the window. With the comfortable seating near the kitchen it would be easier to chat with guests / keep an eye on kids while cooking. Put the desk where the blue chair is now, against the wall, to make it a handy spot to put mail when entering, also the desk chair can then turn and become part of the living room group easily. I would put the black shelves where the desk is currently, either against the wall or the fridge, so that the cookbooks are still near the kitchen.. The couch would go between the desk and black shelves, on the wall where the dresser is now. The tall floor lamp could stay down there, between the desk and couch. The rug and coffee table would be moved in front of the couch with the rug edge tucked under the front feet of the couch. The end table with table lamp then is put beside the couch, nearer the kitchen, with the chairs facing the couch, not pushed against the wall, but far enough out to walk behind. The white chair with it's back to the fridge and the blue chair angled toward the kitchen with it's back to where the coffee table is, is probably going to be the best position. Then the dog bed can move to be either in front of the black shelves or between the couch and desk. The kids desk would be awesome facing out of, or parallel to, the window, or put it where the black shelves are currently, facing into the kitchen. As for the dresser it depends on what is stored in it and where it is most functional but I have two ideas once everything else is in place, depending on where you put the kids desk, if you like the two closer together or not: either with its back to the little Ikea worktop or down in the corner where the couch is now, beside the window, facing into the room. Hope this helps and I'd love to see some after pictures.

Your chest and desk need to be separated. Try placing the chest in front of the window with a lamp on it. I can't tell if the white chair is a child's chair, it and the sm. chest/shelves need to be moved. Bring the sofa towards the kitchen a bit and slide the chest/shelves between the sofa and wall. Remove the child's desk and use somewhere else, his/her bedroom perhaps? Your rug appears too small but you can try turning it the other direction. Right now it is just making your room look longer.
Remove the photos and clutter from your refrig. and get an inexpensive corkboard or ribboned fabric board to display them. Hang it over your desk or chest, whichever stays on that wall.
Decluttering will help along with editing your furniture. Good Luck :)

You could find a work station that matches your tall black bookcase and put it where your desk now is to show some cohesion. Possibly the Ikea Expedit workstation or something similar using a desk and bookshelves. Maybe a rug under the bookshelf that runs to the middle of the room to give the shelves a library feel. I'd also change the lighting fixture and swag it out more towards the middle to balance the room. I think you could accomplish a very new and pulled together look for not much money. Good luck and please show us how it turned out!

I agree w/ designhotdog. Use a bookshelf to divide the living room from the "office," and maybe an identical one to divide the kitchen from the "office." You could either keep the space as an office, make it into a breakfast nook, or figure out a way to combine those functions.

Definitely change out the light or at least swag it over the desk.

I agree that dividing the rooms and moving some of the furniture off of the walls is a good idea. Whatever you do, you should concentrate on giving the room an identity other than as a pass-through. It might be good to switch the office area and living room area, but I think I spy your front door, and I imagine you don't want people walking right into your "office".

You may not want to use the bookcase for division because it would block a lot of light, and views to the living room. I think that having the couch opposite the window with a long console table behind serving as a desk would make a nice set-up. You would need to keep a path clear along the wall, but you could use file cabinets/low chest of drawers beneath the desk to store whatever is in your dresser.

If new furniture is not anywhere in your near future, some bins to store stacks of paper would be a big help.

Yes, paint the cabinets white.

I think the space would be improved by more separation of spaces. Not losing the openess, but just making each of the different functions visually separate.

Having the furniture railroaded along the walls makes it seem narrower and less inviting than I think it could be. Decorate each function in it's own circle or space.

So, a rug in the office area. Or something, maybe a low bookcase or a mobile kitchen cart or even the desk turned perpendicular to the kitchen - something that comes out from the wall between kitchen and former dining room, that visually separates the two spaces.

I think removing the chandelier will help a lot as someone else mentioned. There are so many chairs in that room! It looks like there are two separate work areas. I would not try to define the two spaces (office and living) as separate but rather find a way for furniture to work for both spaces. I've attached a couple links that might help. I feel like that big black bookcase is dominating the room. Maybe try turning it on it's side or paint it a lighter color.

What I could do is buy a couple of small, low pieces from IKEA and use them as the base for one long table that runs the length of the wall where the desk and dresser are now. You could use an single expedit bookshelf turned on it's side with legs to make it higher, short bookshelves, the whole idea would be to make a place for with lots of storage, an place to tuck in one or two chairs, somewhere to put the TV if you have one, a vase with flowers.

You could build the top out of the thickest, highest grade plywood you can find. I recommend the high grade because it has a smooth sanded that is ready to prime and paint, or it's nice enough that you could leave it unfinished. Or you could use 1 x 8s or 1 x 6s.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/look/look-karis-ikeahack-matching-craft-table-and-desk-073523

http://www.houzz.com/photos/23893/fireplace-modern-living-room-new-york

http://www.properhunt.com/2009/09/office-space-no-case-of-mondays-allowed.html

Megan here. Thanks everyone for all the input! I agree that the light definitely needs an update (along with most ceiling lights in the house). A few people have suggested moving shelves to be a divider between "office" and kitchen. Light is an issue because this space has no windows. I'm wondering about building a wall up to the ceiling to block out the fridge and then a half wall to the awkward angle in the wood floor and linoleum so hide the dishwasher and sink from the living room. Anyone think it will work?

I have a CB2 rolling 3x2 bookcase that is open on both sides that I use in my space to delineate the old "dining" room with the living room. I am using the dining room as an office. The fact that it rolls means that you could move it to delineate the "office" from the kitchen or the "office" from the living room. Being open on both sides, it lets light pass but can be used if needed as temporary storage.

Otherwise, just dealing with clutter - using nice boxes and keeping only what I need on a daily basis close by has helped me.

I've also coordinated the color of the furniture in both spaces so it looks unified. And the artwork between the office and living room seem to go together.

If you can live with the cost, CB2 has this awesome bar/table thing that would make the kitchen more livable and create a divider like everyone suggested. http://www.cb2.com/dining-tables/furniture/sidecar-high-dining-table/f4663

I would place it right inside the kitchen before the tile ends end with some stools to give yourself a little bit of hang out space. And that with white cabinets would make the room instantly modern. Also some nice blue or sage wall paint would help the whole area.

The desk should be moved away from the frige so it doesn't feel like there is a desk in your kitchen. It looks like you have a bedroom dresser in your living room that can defiantly go... perhaps to a bedroom? Also, there are so many great options for office storage that will make the space look as minimal as possible. For example, I don't even keep my printer near my desk but print wirelessly.
The wall idea may work, but before you spend money on something like that, why not get some actual tiles instead of linoleum?

My dining area is 8'9" X 9'6", and I second home body's comment if you change your mind later. The path between my kitchen and living room runs along the short wall. My off-center 42" diameter round-to-oval pedestal dining table seats four when closed and six when open.

This looks like this is a family home. Does your family enjoy spending time in the kitchen together, or do you have casual gatherings of friends over very often? If either of these is the case, I'd suggest thinking of this space as a social/comfy extension of the kitchen rather than a place for quiet/solo tasks.

The saying that "every party ends up in the kitchen" is pretty darn true, and I think it can be really good to go WITH it rather than resist it. You might consider moving a couch or love seat into this space so that it's easy to chat and cook, or to have a comfortable place for quiet play or homework during after supper clean up.

I've added couches to two kitchens in the past six years, and both times the space immediately felt more cozy and social and more like the center of my home.

The one way to maximize a narrow space for dining is to consider a banquette up against one wall. It buys you the space normally needed for circulation. Then keep chairs only at the "head and foot" of the table, but have two additional pull-up chairs in the adjacent living room. Just make sure they can pass as living room chairs.

And I disagree about replacing the chandelier... it is quite useful in designating that space as "dining" versus "eat-in kitchen."

Whoops, just saw that you dine elsewhere. I stand by my banquette love. Just not here. :)

I think you can extend the living room real estate in towards the kitchen... but it will require floating a pair of lightly-scaled chairs (backs to the kitchen) to do it. They can perhaps be anchored with a small console table behind them.

9ft x 9ft -- How large is your dining table. I have a table for four that would easily fit into this space and have plenty of room to walk around.