How We Live Now Can Define our Living Space!
How we live now can define our living space: Time and time again after meeting with clients in their home whether for decorating or staging I hear the same comment when it comes to one room, “We never use the dining room. What a waste of space.”
The formal dining room is probably the most underutilized room of the home. If one were to take a poll, majority would probably say they use it maybe once or twice a year. That is a lot of equity in a room that is hardly used.
In my own home it was obvious that the formal dining room was too small for my formal dining set. The once a year we used it the guests would be squished. Doesn’t matter how many leaves the table comes with, there is only so much space to expand.
Then there is the living and family room. Again, most folks don’t use the formal living room if there is a family room.
Eventually I turned my living room in my formal dining room, which was much longer and appropriate to get major use out of all those table leaves and guests.
The smaller former dining room became the living room, which is now my home office for my business. This is very convenient since it is right off the kitchen. When ready to sell I will keep it as a home office because most buyers want a home office.
During a recent visit at a vacant home for sale in Pine Bush with the Realtor, the layout of the public area was a concern. The kitchen had a floor plan with sliding doors where the eating area would be. Next to the sliders was a stone fireplace for a sitting area. The kitchen opened to a formal dining room defined by the hanging lighting pendant, which opened to the living room, which was off the main
My staging plan for this house for sale was to create a large dining room as part of the kitchen open floor plan. Instead of having a small table with a small living area, it now one big great room with counter seating and a large farm table that stretches to the fireplace.
From my experience, since my entertaining style is very informal, most people do not leave the kitchen area.
In this particular home, what was the formal dining room is now defined as a living room. My suggestion was to make this the family/TV room, which would open to the more formal area, which could be defined with another seating area away from the TV.
Wayne Kozireski of John J. Lease Realtors says, “Claudia Jacobs Designs has made my clients empty home feel like a home again. The unusual floor plan had its challenges and was a big issue for prospective buyers. What I hear now is “wow” and requests to measure rooms for furniture placement.”
The problem is this large home had two small dining areas. Potential buyers were confused of the floor plan.