*sigh*

Its a cool project, and it looks great. Good for them for finding a way to use that space in a way that suits them. It sounds like it was a lot of work, and it paid off for them.

But I'm tired of always hearing that dining rooms are the dreaded 'wasted space.' As one living in a small home, with a dining room that is frequently in use, I feel like most people can't understand the value of having a larger space to entertain than our squishy four-seater island in the kitchen.

Nice - But where do they eat?
Personally, I'd kill for a proper dining space.

It looks very nice, and I'm always glad to see trim used to dress up those Billy bookcases. But I also love a real dining room, and I hate eating at a cramped kitchen table, surrounded by dirty dishes.

I have a dining room and really only use it at a place to put the litter box. I eat in the living room or my table in my kitchen. Having all that extra space is a bitch because it's dead space, but I understand that I shouldn't be complaining about having too much room.

I've been wanting to turn the dining room into something like this.

I thought I'd respond to a couple of your comments. This space was my dining room and since the children are almost grown, we found that the four-person table in the kitchen was good for most of our meals but more importantly, my husband and I had no space to retreat to when the kids and their friends were in the living room. With no TV in the library, we actually talk and read and it's become my most favorite room in the house.

Leslye

It probably boils down to what works for you in your home. My mother had a fit one day and decided she'd teach her children to eat properly, dammit, in a nice dining room, and we ate every dinner thereafter in the dining room. My brother, however, has a totally wasted dining room that he only uses for holidays when he sets up a buffet on a folding table so everyone can take their food back to the TV room. This library idea would be perfect for his house. (Of course, who actually has a library to PUT in a library? That would be me...) Meanwhile, I once lived in a house with a formal dining room three two rooms away from the kitchen. I made a library.

I do love the futon and the pillows. For me, the make-or-break point of a library is the comfy reading place.

Leslye, like I said, I think its really great that you guys found something that works for you. Obviously, you wouldn't have done it if you were regularly hosting large dinner parties (unless you had a huge kitchen). Just because it -was- a dining room doesn't mean it always has to be one. :)

I was more venting about some AT posters' general habit of putting down dining rooms as inefficiently used space, when everyone's needs are different, and I really do NEED my dining room.

im in the process of making a dining room/library/piano room. its turning out great. if I only had a dining room table the room would be so boring and naked.

I would love to live in a place with an actual dining room, not just a narrow end of living room next to the kitchen, sigh. I would just put a little dining table right in the middle of this library!
as it is, I am getting inspired for our garage/classroom old-with your finishing of old Billy here. A very old-world and venerable feeling.

I'm curious about the green on the walls, I love it. What color is it?

The green color is Agave #AF-420 by Benjamin Moore. I love it too. The billy bookcases are the Ikea brown-black color and the green goes great. You can't see in the picture, but I also have two Ikea poang chairs in the room. What would we do without Ikea?
Leslye

To chime in with Cashew, it's not this space, it's the posts that airily dismiss the dining room, the this and the that. AT's bloggers sometimes get a little carried away with the verbiage. I'm actually more interested in what the owners of the space have to say. This is a great job, by the way.

Leslye-love what you've done with the dining room. Looks cozy. I live in a studio, so my main room does quadruple duty. ;)

I was thinking of getting a Poang chair, do you really like it? I don't know anyone that has one, so just thought I'd ask you. Is yours the leather one or the fabric one?

I love Ikea. I'm so grateful I live 10 mins from one.

I think it looks great- and it's always about what works for you!

My fav kitch/dining scenario is what we have at our house. The previous wners blasted the wall seperating the little galley kitchen and formal dining room. So now, It's more like an open kitchen, but with an eat in space the size of a formal room. Perfect for us!

krpm1 - we like the Poang chair so much we have two in the library and two in another part of the house. They are incredibly comfortable and even move a bit when you sit in them. We purchased the fabric covers and then I recovered them in a striped fabric that brings in all the colors of the room. It was easier than it might sound to do this. You zip open the covers, take out the seat and back cushions, take the stitches out of the binding that holds the fabric front and back together and use everything as a pattern for the fabric you like. Stitch it back the way it was - all done. .

You also talked about your room doing quadruple duty. Actually this room is also our guest room (small house). Ceiling to floor draperies block the door and slide to the side when not in use. People generally don't stay long!
Leslye

You mean there are people out there without personal libraries?

That's so sad.

Cool conversion! Though it might have been easier to use the mounting rail the kitchens line comes with and sourced a few of the internal brackets from the As-Is section.

Make the Blackberry ad go away. I don't see a close box and it is blocking every AT webpage I try to view!

Hi Leslie- I really love your design. I am thinking of coverting the lower portion of our Billy bookcase into a cabinet for glasses or other kitchen things. How did you make the double doors at the top of the shelves?

We are working on making some brown-black Billys look built-in. What can you tell me about staining the trim to match? Color? Brand? Poly? We're struggling. Thanks!