We love the architecture and details of many older homes, despite the smaller square footage and more interior walls than we'd like. There are no family rooms, recreation rooms or bonus rooms to speak of. But there often is a formal dining area adjacent to the main living area, perfectly-situated for a playroom.
Consider how often you use the dining room. We love to entertain but we find that more and more we're doing it in a less formal way - buffet style sitting on various surfaces throughout the house. The dining room definitely is handy for Thanksgiving dinner, but a playroom would be great the other 364 days of the year.
So we're considering taking the plunge. We need some paint, new lighting, new floor coverings and some storage space for our dining table. Has anyone done this in their own home? Please share with us in the comments.
(Photo: Courtney's Playroom)
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This is EXACTLY what our plan is. We have an eat-in area in the kitchen and as soon as our landlord moves his old dining table out of it, ours will go in. Then it's a matter of some flor tiles (already chosen, but I like what's up there) and a new light fixture (I don't care if we're renting the existing one is hideous and too low anyway) and then a cute little rehabbed bookshelf and some toy bins and the kid (we're adopting) and away we go!
http://embritadesign.blogspot.com
I did this. I had zero use for a formal dining area, so we raised the light fixture and put two bookcases and the train table in. I put FLOR tiles down. We have a family room, but we use the dining area for extra playspace. Our floor plan is the open type, so this made much more sense for playdates and such.
Our dining table set is in our basement.
This is exactly what we've done with our 1920s bungalow - it works out great.
We have a 20yr old traditional 2 story with the formal dining room to the right of the front foyer, with the other entry from the eat-in kitchen. Our kitchen can accommodate our 6-8 seat table, so we really have no need for a formal dining area. I don't think we've eaten in that room for the 3 years we've lived here. I have a strong inclination to turn the dining room into our kids' study, as we have 3 elementary age children (plus a baby). Our "formal living room" (which is small) is currently a "playroom," but I eventually would like to put on French doors and create a guest bedroom in the formal living room area. I think our dining room would perfectly house some nice bookcases and work surfaces for laptops, plus a cozy reading spot or two. I have been inspired with some of the Pottery Barn looks for kids' study areas.
Why waste square footage of the house, especially when we never do formal entertaining? Perhaps it will become a newer trend.... Would love to see more examples of this!
We turned our dining room into a playroom. We chose an orange color for the walls so it would make it feel more like a playroom and less like a dining room turned into a playroom. We have recently finished the area with wood floors and some blue FLOR squares, but here is a picture of it before we did the floors.
http://www.humzoo.com/dennydeaton/photos/3/218/
Has anyone made a hybrid dining/playroom? We are moving into a new place with a 9x12 dining room off the living room... in the past, we've done our share of entertaining, but I anticipate fewer formal dinners over the next five years (our baby is 6.5 months).
We don't have an eat-in kitchen, so a table in the dining room will be necessary. But perhaps there is a compromise that can be reached. Ideas?
I think we are headed in this direction soon, too. Our little one, 7 months old, is just running out of space in our living room. I can't imagine what else we will do once she starts walking!
dining room? what's that?!?! *sigh of envy*
Check out the blog My Lily Eden...they turned their dining room into a very colorful and happy play room for their little girl. I love it! If I had a dining room you better believe I would do it!