Our second house was a classic colonial two story and pretty traditional with formal living and dining rooms. I know many think we’re real formal people but not so much. 😉

Our living room looked pretty but the the only time it was really used was at Christmas for the tree and when I needed a quiet spot to talk on the phone. The dining room also was pretty but was rarely used and seemed to mostly be a puking spot for our now dead cat Maxie.

So we knew our next house would be more open and not have formal spaces. Rather, we wanted it to feel open and welcoming and have more wide open spaces.

We think we got pretty close with a decent-sized foyer and wide hallways and archways, and the gathering room and kitchen flow seamlessly together.

Add in our big windows with pretty, private views and we think we got the wide open spaces we were hoping for.