I swapped my living room and dining room.

[wildeyed]

Turned the too small dining room into a cozy den off the kitchen and made the large, rarely used living room into a dining room that can seat 10+. I am sitting in my adorable little den right now and loving it! It's like having a new addition, but without any of the cost, mess or hard work. :woohoo: :)

Big question is why it took me four years to think of it. :crazy:

[Longhorn]

1. I've had that happen when you wonder what took you so long to see another

way of arranging furniture or pictures on the wall, etc. I think that's why I like those shows on HGTV where a designer comes in and rearranges a room, spending no money whatsoever, but completely changing the feel. You were lucky enough to see it without having to pay someone! :)

[wildeyed]

4. My neighbor has her house set up in a similar fashion to what mine is now.

Same builder, similar layouts, so I cribbed from her :)

[NMDemDist2]

2. this cozy space?? great idea!!

[wildeyed]

3. No, another one ;-)

I put a kitchen table in *that* cozy space. The rug is upstairs in my son's room. The dog hair and dirt tracked in from outside was too much for a light colored rug, and we needed a larger area for the family to eat since we never did use the dining room, even though it was right there :shrug:

So we still didn't have a den area since the planned den area didn't pan out. So I took the formal dining room, made that into a den. We used the formal living room maybe three times a year. Complete waste of space. So that has the dining furniture now. I doubt we will use it much, but when I do I will be able to seat many, many guests :) I bet I become a freakin' social butterfly :rofl:

I will try to post photos later to fully illustrate the fabulousness of the change.

My house is large (too large actually), but the common rooms are small and the flow is chopped up. I am always struggling to make the layout work for a modern family. Think I might have finally hit on a winner :)

[Warpy]

5. Formal living rooms are overrated, IMO

It's much better to have an extra small bedroom where you can confine the kids and their toys and messes and having the main living space be the main living space with few enough toys scattered about that visitors won't break their necks on the way to the sofa.

I actually prefer living without formality and using my favorite line from "Roseanne," "Sorry about the mess but we live here."

[wildeyed]

6. Yep.

People don't live that way anymore. At least we don't. Everyone hangs in the kitchen when we entertain.

And I figured out the toy problem. I got rid of most of them. Kids didn't play with them except to make a huge mess and never even noticed that I got rid of at least half one day while they were at summer camp }(



When we moved here, my son was still really little, I was getting no sleep and I fully lost my mind over the 04 elections. I was on auto-pilot and put the furniture where it was "supposed" to go. Now I am seeing there are far better ways of using the space. Give me another 5 years or so, and I will have this house finished!

For what it is worth, the kitchen project is holding up. I still *love* that space :)