It’s Your Home; you determine room use, not the floor plan!

     If you have been following this blog, or even glanced at my “About me” by-line, then you know I am a huge advocate of having your home reflect your personality. I have talked about decorating with colors that you love and make you feel good to create ambiance. I have even touched upon choosing decorating accessories that tell a story or remind you of a cherished person’s act of kindness. Today I am going to talk about room use and hopefully embolden you to consider stepping out of the architect’s idea of how your home should flow.
     Some of the selling points for choosing our home in Richmond, Virginia were that it had a “Country Kitchen” (an eat-in kitchen), a large dining room, and an equally large room with a bay window and a fireplace. This large room (with the bay window and fireplace) was designated as the “Living” room on the floor plan and initially we used it that way. However, after a month or two I began looking at the flow of the house, and re-considered our predetermined floor plan for room use. The “Living” room with the bay window and fireplace was bright and sunny and tucked away from the front entrance to our home. The “Dining” room on the other hand was naturally shaded vis a vis our long front porch.
     My husband and I are avid movie buffs and completely are on the same page that the main room we relax in should have a view of the front door so we can keep an eye on the comings and goings of our teens. This made the decision to relocate the living room to the darkest large room in our house for optimal movie viewing easy.
     We are also a very musical family, nearly everyone in our home plays at least one instrument. We almost always end up having an impromptu “jam session” at least once a week, which is more often than we would ever use a dining room. So after a bit of discussion on room use we made the decision to eliminate the formal dining room altogether in favor of a large music room. On the occasions where we host a dinner gathering it also serves as a unique dining room that quickly can be transformed for after dinner entertainment.
     Below is a picture of a typical set up for a holiday dinner with extended family. This summer my daughters and I will be sewing covers for the folding chairs for a more finished look.

Bottom line, we decided what would work best for our family…and no one has sat down in our living room and asked…Isn’t this supposed to be the dining room?