Our Multipurpose Dining Room

Our dining room doubles as a play room.

In fact, when the guy came to measure for new windows, he wasn’t really sure what to call it.  He looked around and said, “I guess I’ll just call it a dining room.”

I cleaned up for these pictures.  It usually looks more like this:


(ugh.  Who am I kidding?  It usually looks at least 14x worse.)
But we love it.
The bookcases hold books, photos, memorabilia and TOYS.  I highlighted the dresser in my post about Smart Furniture.


The table is on casters so it is moved around the room frequently, depending on where play space is needed.  It also has two leaves and expands to seat 6.  It was our first furniture refinishing project as newlyweds.

The bay window is home to a play table, which is actually a garage sale coffee table that I picked up for $10. It fits perfectly and is a great place for puzzles and playdoh.  My diaper box storage bins fit perfectly underneath it.

And to give you a little perspective – these pictures are taken from the doorway to the kitchen.  The bookshelves are to the right and the living room (that’s the front door) are to the left.




We still have some major plans for this room, to make it even more efficient and beautiful!
1.  Remove the window that’s hiding behind the bookcase on the left. 
2.  “Fake” built-ins with the bookcases.
3.  Remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room. 
4.  Replace the windows and refinish the wood trim.
5.  Replace the light fixture.

But for now, we’re enjoying our dining/play room!

Shared at Inspiration Friday
Furniture Feature Friday 
Frugal Friday 
Everything But the Kitchen Sink 
Home Stories A to Z
Saturday Night Special 
Thrifty Decor Chick