So we did decide to go with switching the living room and the office in our rental house. Here are the before and after pictures. (Note that none of this is our furniture.)

Living room before:

…and after (now the office):

Here’s the new living room (previously an empty room that we’d planned on being the office):

This isn’t our “dream house,” but it’s certainly more than adequate for the time while we’re building. And, while I was worried that having a home office might drive me crazy, so far it’s really fine. I actually enjoy not having to get up and “go to work” and being able to take a walk at lunch or after work in the surrounding beauty. (Knowing that dark is coming each evening around 4 or 5 is actually motivating me to stop work then.)