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Life seems more informal these days and everyone loves to be in a kitchen.
I think a library sounds like a great idea, I think if I had a dining room I would do the same thing.
I would have no use for a formal dining room either.
It's your house, the rooms are there for you to live in and enjoy, can't spend your whole entire life worrying about a possible re-sale. There is a buyer for everything.
A house is to be lived in and enjoyed in whatever manner the owners choose.
If a dining room doesn't work for you, you make into a room that you'll enjoy.
Last edited by nightcrawler; 08-28-2023 at 05:14 PM..
Life seems more informal these days and everyone loves to be in a kitchen.
I think a library sounds like a great idea, I think if I had a dining room I would do the same thing.
I would have no use for a formal dining room either.
It's your house, the rooms are there for you to live in and enjoy, can't spend your whole entire life worrying about a possible re-sale. There is a buyer for everything.
A house is to be lived in and enjoyed in whatever manner the owners choose.
If a dining room doesn't work for you, you make into a room that you'll enjoy.
We're thinking of converting our dining room into a library - built-in bookcases, comfy chairs, record player (yes record player), no TV, glass french doors etc. Maybe a drop leaf table for when we need more than our EIK can support for a dinner party. Our house is plenty big enough for us but feel we would use a library more than a formal dining room.
Thoughts / suggestions?
Thanks
I have seen people do this and as long as there is another eating area in the house, I think it can work out well.
These days, with more people working remotely, home offices have grown in popularity.
The only thing I'd reconsider is too many built-in bookcases since other people might want a formal DR when you sell.
Perhaps consider hutches or built-ins which could also be used for dishes, plates, or a food pantry with doors. Use it as a library/office but don't make it too permanent or hard to change back.
I love this idea and although it wasn't a converted dining room, a woman I knew who designed her own home had a little 'reading/relaxing' room off the living room with french doors. It was lovely and could be multi-purpose.
The other thing she had that I loved was a very large pantry inside the kitchen and that also had french doors. It was even bigger than the reading room but held pantry items as well as pots, pans, etc. The house was not very big and that was a very practical and functional space.
We're thinking of converting our dining room into a library - built-in bookcases, comfy chairs, record player (yes record player), no TV, glass french doors etc. Maybe a drop leaf table for when we need more than our EIK can support for a dinner party. Our house is plenty big enough for us but feel we would use a library more than a formal dining room.
Thoughts / suggestions?
Thanks
We had the same idea. Keep the table for reading, puzzles, projects and those rare occasions when we have lots of family over for dinner, but line the walls with bookcases.
We finally did it. Surprisingly sold the dining room set on marketplace the first day. Bought a couple of recliners and a table. Slid our huge TV console in there and filled it up with books. Put in floating shelves in the hole left by the TV area. Replaced the chandelier with a ceiling fan. Haven't decided about the doors yet, they are quite expensive.
No TV but did put on a record player and cd player and with bluetooth can have some background music when wanted.
Sounds like a good idea to me. I wouldn't make any major structural changes for resale sake. My MIL used her eat in kitchen area as a small seating area, a small sofa and a TV and a foot stool and very small end table. The dining area was mostly open to the kitchen so she used the dining room daily. It worked well with how the house was configured.
Just noticed you did it. Sounds nice.
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