LOL, I was just coming here to post more pictures of a topic I did the other day about 2 seating areas in a room. I need to find the topic then I'll bump it up with the same questions you have. I'm thinking about adding a small table in the back of the room to do crafts and puzzles on, or just eat.

I have a sort of dining room/foyer. It used to be the living room. But the living room is the smallest room in the house and there's an odd traffic pattern in it. Arranging furniture was difficult. And when you came in the door with your arms full of stuff, there was no place to put the stuff so you could take off your coat, put the keys away safely, etc.

So I switched the living room and dining room. Now I have much more space as I enter, with a table to put things on. I moved a small chiffarobe into the space to hold coats, hats, gloves and handbags. The new dining room has a small table for both eating and reading, a bookcase, a front hall table, two chairs for the table and two antique wooden chairs that were my great-grandparents.

I got the idea from reading about a lot of New York City apartments where they use the front hall as a dining room when they have guests. I now have a china cabinet in the new living room, but it's a small price to pay in order to have 3 or 4 people able to sit down and chat in the same room.

My master dressing room is also my sewing room. I had the closet built and then added a desk area and a cubby in the cabinets for my sewing machine and serger. I had it wired as well so I can use the computer with my sewing machine.

And since DS (3) hasn't yet moved to his room...it's also a nursery LOL I'm ready for my son to "come out of the closet" if you will heh heh

Our home office turns into another guest room when necessary -- with a sofabed and room in the closet for both guest items and home office files and supplies.

Jan

I have a guest room that also serves as my computer room.

My living room is also my computer room. Computer and small desk at one end, piano and seating area at the other. The room is hard to use because traffic flows throught he center and three walls have either a large window or a doorway. I have thought of ripping up the carpet and extending my hardwood that is in my small foyer into this room and switching it to a dining room. Then I would have room for a fireplace. I have an eat in kitchen with no formal dining. Maybe I could put comfy seating where my dining set is now because right now my china cabinet is in my tv/family room. HMM... Not sure if I have the nerve.

I have a dining room that serves as a stroller garage, computer room, home office, play area & toy storage! Oh, AND we even have a rocking horse and a plant and a dog bowl!! Yeah! And THIS is NOT a big room! Yikes!

I forgot to add... we don't use this as a dining room!! Fortunately, we are building a new house right now and will be doubling the size of our home! Woo-hoo!

Our foyer is actually a room. It has a 6 x 9 Aubusson-style carpet, a tall English secretary, a love seat, coffee table, quite a few paintings and, most importantly, the cat's scratching post, which he is passionately attached to (pun intended).

Our office, from all outside appearances is an office/library, but it also doubles as DH's dressing room.

Our bedroom is bigger, but has one tiny closet. This room is smaller, 10x13, but has an 8' wide closet which I've decked out with two rows of hanging bars and adjustible shelves. We've made every inch useable.

All of DH's work uniforms (Security Forces on the base), thermals, sports clothes, and his normal day-to-day clothes are in here. There's a small dresser under the window. The lower drawer holds computer supplies and office items, the other two drawers are more clothing storage for him.

There's a comfy wing-back recliner "just right" for reading and watching woodpeckers at the feeder on the white spruce trees outside the north window, but he finds it useful when lacing up his combat boots.

Eventually I'll get a carpet in here, and I want a smaller, buffet-type cabinet for the south wall. It will provide three more drawers for his clothes, and a nice display top for more books or "library" items.

This room is working very well as a computer room, library, and dressing room. Unless you open the closet, or look in the dresser, you'd never know it's also a dressing room.

It's also right next to the main bathroom; our bedroom is at the other end of the house. Since he gets up at Oh-Early-Thirty, he can come in here, shower, and dress for work without having to come back into the bedroom. He doesn't want to awaken the Sleeping Dragoness! LOL

Thanks 4 all the post!!!

ingrid vc & camlan-
could both of you pleassse post pics of your room, because this is the idea I am looking for. Thanks so much.

our kitchen eating area is also used for our computer room.
We usually eat in the dinning/great room.

Our bathroom is also my hubby's reading room. Does that count? :)

Angelcute, here you go. A few words of explanation: This is actually the living room, but I changed it into the foyer/dining room. I just switched the living room and dining room last week, so I'm still tweaking things a lot. If I decide to keep this arrangement, the bookcase will be swapped out with three bookcases that are currently in the new living room (I wanted to make sure I liked this arrangement before moving 4 bookcases and all the books). Since the old dining room was sort of a dining room/library, this new room will be foyer/dining room/library. Please ignore the paint colors. The apartment was painted like this when I move in. I'm in negotations with the the landlord to repaint, something other than his "off-white," which is really a very, very yellow color.

This space is roughly 10'x12'. Here is the view looking from the front door of the apartment into the foyer/dining room. (Sorry for the huge picture size; nothing I do seems to make it smaller.) The box on the table is an old document box; I stuff mail in there to keep things a bit neater. The table is not a real dining table, it is an old library table which only seats two (since I am single, it is fine for me or me and one other person).

This is looking to the left of the front door, with an old front hall table which can also serve as a sideboard for meals.

This is looking to the right of the front door into the new living room.

And this is looking to the right of the front door, with my improvised coat closet, which is really an old chiffarobe. It holds jackets and short coats in the hanging part, gloves, hats, scarves and handbags in the drawers. The table to the right of the door has a tray for keys.

every room of my house is required to have more than one function, it has to have as it is very small. I think most people probably do have more than one funciton to their rooms if they would think about it.

my living room is a foyer and music room as well as I use my laptop in here, and listen to music and watch the t v and a lot of my extensive library is in the living room and hallway to it..i have thousands of books and 10 more on order..sometimes i even eat in here..my dining room is used for a lot of other things and i am planning on moving my pc armoire into it, so it will be another function..our guest room has a craft armoire, a television for t v and video viewing, a library corner for reading with a lot of bookshelves..and a craft area..our bedroom has a roll top desk which makes it my office as well, i have a gymnasium but it also has a wall of storage and some office equipment in it..the family room has many functions including my husband's office..and on and on.

i think if you live in a small house you will find ways to use all of your rooms in many ways

Our dining room has a very large window seat--broad and deep. Family members often sit or lie there and read (or nap). The dining room also has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and cabinets, so it's a logical place to read. When we have larger gatherings and dinner parties, it's interesting to see some groups seat themselves in the window seat area. It almost serves as a separate gathering place within the larger space.

Here you go angelcute, pictures as requested. The glass door is the front door. Another door leads to the TV room, the next to the computer room and there's also a bathroom in that area. One step up leads to the LR, DR, kitchen and bedroom areas.