Have one but it was only used once in 8 years. We eat in the kitchen and informal "nook" area, the space that's between the kitchen & family room. Now the formal dining/living (30x25 combined. No walls open space with 25' ceilings) room has my Bowflex weights and elliptical and bench. While the living room has my Klipsch Bell's, Turntable & Marantz receiver. The exercise area is used daily now whilst listening to GREAT music. Actually when I think about it that area never had that "feel" of formality. Just a big open space and hardly intimate to me. Pic is from top of the stairs off to the left of the loft.

@Judy Our neighborhood is full of homes with both formal living rooms, formal dining rooms and first floor family rooms, it's the design of the development. @Dytecture LOVE the idea and term "flex room" and have been telling my husband that we need to find a dining table that can go from cocktail table height to dining height. That would be awesome! @Happy - I'm talking from a merchandising standpoint. At this point, we don't use the office or the dining room or the small hall they made between. We don't host huge events, so really we don't need a huge dining room. If I could, I would convert it to my studio as it has the best natural light of the house. Anyhow, it is a big room ... it needs to make sense in the scheme of the house. Right now, I don't think it does. Seems odd to walk into a house with a huge formal dining room (right off the entry) where one would expect to find a formal living room. And, the fact that it does have formal dining, it's a let down to learn there is no companion formal living room.

Hi Ilona - your comment here will likely get lost in the shuffle, so your best bet for receiving the input you're looking for would definitely be to create your own thread, as abesusy suggested. I am far from being any kind of expert, but the one suggestion that comes to my mind for you is bunk beds. That would allow space for a desk or table of some sort that could be used for crafts or (as they get older) homework, plus provide additional storage. I hope that helps, and best wishes! Have fun with those grandkiddos! ;-)

Formal living rooms are becoming obsolete more so than formal dining rooms. There are some homeowners/buyers who still want a formal dining room. Those that do have a formal dining room are realizing that a room used only a couple of times a year seems a waste. So, I encourage clients to create multi-purpose rooms. I recently designed a "library-dining room" for clients who love to both read and entertain. The room is used as a cozy reading nook most of the time. There is a large "library table" which is used for formal dining a few times a year. If you are selling a home, I would suggest you list the dining room as "dining room/flex room". Depending on buyer trends in your area, your real estate professional may have a different suggestion. But, in general, that would be my suggestion.