I’d thought I would share one of the rooms I have been working on recently. This is not finished by any means, but you can see the progression of our old dining room now turned office/den/relaxing corner/call it what you want to area. This room is one of the first things someone sees as they walk into our house. It’s technical name, I guess, would be the formal dining room. And when we moved in, we felt very mature having a formal dining room and immediately made it formal. Don’t laugh.
(I was getting ready to throw my sister’s baby shower in the pic, but originally there was a tapestry hanging on that back wall) Now, don’t get me wrong. It was a beautiful place, but apparently we are not very formal people and this room served more as a place to set things than a place to enjoy a family meal.
If you have followed my blog at all, you know one of my biggest pet peeves is wasted space. I want to use every square inch of my home and I wanted this area to function for our little family of four. And this was just not cutting it. We ultimately choose to nix the formal dining room. If you caught this post, you know I refinished the “formal” table and moved it into the eating area off the kitchen. Buh bye formal dining room!
I know what you are thinking….
What do you do when you have a large group over for a nice dinner?
Seeing how we are “go with the flow” kind of people and have a life centered around our crazy kids, we happily arrange the food a la buffet style and then provide a plethora of seating options. With our open floor plan, whether people situate themselves at the bar or at the table, we can all still talk, hang out and enjoy each other’s company. We’ve even been known to let people eat on our couch…shocking, I know. 😉
Sidenote: My down the road dream plan is to build a screened in porch with a HUGE harvest table…big enough to hold a family as big as the Braverman family from Parenthood…isn’t that great? 
A girl can dream right?
Alright, getting back to reality…after I moved the table out of the formal dining room, the room was in limbo and sat like this for a few weeks until I could figure out what our family needed from this space.
As time went on, our list of requirements for the room grew so I just decided to smoosh them all together and see how it came out. I’m thrilled to say, so far, it’s working for us.
We are in mid transformation here…I still need to reupholster/change up the chair in the corner, sew new cushions for the daybed, install a new light fixture and style a few things, but you get the idea of the direction it’s going.
Do you spy the F. Schumacher Chiang Mai Dragon pillows? I know!?!?!?!?!?!? I have drooled and drooled over this fabric for over a year and I finally got some!?!? From the best parents around…thank you, thank you, thank you…you guys rocked my birthday this year. 😀 (as you do every year!)
So, let me formally introduce you to our multi-functioning room. This is our central hub area. The black armoire holds all of our important mail/bills/cameras/printers and other electronic devices and serves as a great work area.
One day it might be me sitting here paying bills or blogging and the next day, Henry might be here playing abcmouse.com. This area has no television which I loooove so if you want to curl up on the couch with a cup of coffee and a magazine you can actually enjoy some peace and quiet. Plus, it is also the best place to sit and chat about the latest happenings with a friend who might pop in for a visit.
This area is quickly becoming one of my favorite rooms in the house. It’s a great collection of thrift store finds (recognize the lamps from this post) and inherited pieces and I love how they all play off each other to create a carefree and fun oasis where I can come in and feel relaxed, yet energized.
I have a few more finishing touches that I hope to have completed by the end of the year and I’ll re-share. Like that goal setting? I try. If you have any questions about sources of items, I’d be happy to share…ask away! 😉
Scout & Nimble 