Friday, November 23, 2012

Our Living Room Needs



We’ve been thinking a lot about our home lately and how we can best make use of the floor plan to suit our needs.  On the weekend, Paul came up with a renovating idea, one that has left me mulling over the use of our formal dining room ever since.  His suggestion was to extend our open plan living area to create a slightly bigger space.  Such a project would create a spot where a larger table would be possible, which would take advantage of the small unused part of our patio and if done correctly, hopefully let in more light.

To be honest, I’m not a fan of our other formal dining space.  For one, it is barely used.  Also, I’d prefer such a room to have floorboards rather than be carpeted and if I had my choice now, I would have chosen a more casual, hard-wearing table as well as chairs that weren’t upholstered.  If we had space for a bigger table in our every day living area (possibly a table that could be extended), we wouldn’t even need a formal dining room and that area could be put to better use. 

I think it’s important to make a home work for your needs.  We love our house and look back over the changes we have made since we moved in here and the renovations we’ve carried out with a sense of pride.  However, there are certainly things we could still change to better suit our family. 

Of course, these ideas are all still in the ‘dreaming stage’ and the likelihood of any coming to fruition is a possibility that is still WAY off into the future.  We have a home office to re-jig first and shelving to decide on for either side of our (fake) fireplace before any more major renovations take place.  But Paul’s suggestion has given me a little boost of interior decorating enthusiasm over the past week and the freedom to look back at magazine pages I’d bookmarked and to wonder if spaces I thought were unachievable might be possible after all…


Both images courtesy of Homelife
Photography by Mark Roper / Styling by Indiana Foord

12 comments:

  1. That's exciting my dear, to keep dreaming and planning for your home. I also have a similar idea about our dining room, if we extended it out by about 3m and added a deck to go out the back we could make the dining room into a family and dining room. But it's all $$$ isn't it :( It will be a while away before we're doing any renos. You'll have to post your inspiration pictures!
    Big hugs and I'm totally overdue to email you, will try to this weekend.
    Jxx

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  2. Sounds like some great plans afoot! I love when the rennovating and reorganising bug hits me...have started writing the ideas down as money isn't letting us do want we would like to at the moment. Some things will be better to leave until the twins a a little older too!
    So lovely to dream and plan though isn't it?

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  3. It's great to plan, to dream and one day..to do. Sounds like a good plan too.

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  4. the ideas you're throwing around sound like they'd be perfectly suited to the lifestyle you lead...and anything that lets more light inside is a great thing!

    i can't help but think of formal dining spaces as starting to become old-fashioned. they're usually not used and tucked away somewhere...and become a bit of wasted space. my parents have a formal lounge that is only used at christmas time...which is nice in a way, but seems like what do you do with it for the rest of the year? 364 days of wasted space seems like a shame. (although my dad likes to use the table to put all his crap on, much to my mum's dismay!)

    it's nice to become inspired again! i look forward to hearing what you decide. :)

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    Replies
    1. I've been thinking turning the formal dining room into a craft/activity room of sorts for the girls would be a good idea... still thinking...

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  5. Hi Amanda, thanks for visiting my blog. I know the little bug box is very cute, it's from a gift shop in New Zealand but here's a link to a wesite that sells them:
    http://www.uniquekids.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=142&products_id=1562
    Leigh x

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  6. Formal dining rooms are lovely but rarely seem to be used these days.
    I like a bigger informal area that can accommodate a large table. It makes entertaining so much easier x

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  7. I love making those sorts of plans, the dreaming ones. They are all the more exciting then if they get done. It's nice to mull over an idea for a while as well I think do decide if you really do like the idea or not. We have this grand idea of removing the wall behind our pantry and turning it into a big walk in pantry big enough for a table inside. The room behind the wall hasn't really been used much since we moved in. Currently however, because there's no way we can afford those sorts of renos anytime soon, I am having fun turning that area into a little office nook. Time to get that filing under control!

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  8. It's fun making new plans to renovate, I like a new house project too. I know hubby likes to plan new things to renovate it keeps him enjoying the house rather than getting bored with it since we've lived here for so long now. xx

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  9. It sounds like a great plan and a better use of space. I like to have every room in the house being used in a practical way. So like you I am not a fan of formal dining rooms because they are rarely used.
    Looking forward to following your progress on this renovation:)

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