Thank you so much. That is really a great idea and the rooms are lovely and warm. I am a clutterer and work like an absentminded professor so need to close the door to my chaos!

Can you post a layout of the house? I had the same problem and I rearranged my house. I have a formal living and a family room and I only needed one. The dining room was TINY, so I moved it to the family room. But without a layout it is very hard to advise.

Nice but another mortgage!

Idea without knocking down any walls...Can you repurpose the living room as your study by adding a door? Then repurpose the dining room as your living room? And move your DR set to the breakfast nook?

A floor plan is needed to answer your question. In my experience few people use their formal dining room that often so I would rethink all of the rooms to suit your lifestyle, marylut’s suggestion might be the answer.

"I am a clutterer and work like an absentminded professor so need to close the door to my chaos!

"could live with it in an upstairs bedroom, if I had to (there's that ugly word - compromise.)

Compromise. Save your marriage, the house, and COMPROMISE. : )

Or ask the Mrs, which room on the first floor, she would like to FULLY compromise. I've seen plenty of absentminded professor type "study's" . Save the marriage and the house, or build a man shed in the back forty. Or take it upstairs and buy a Keurig : )

In my last home I converted my dining room into the family room and took the family room and made it into my office . Later we converted the garage to an office and made the former office into a gym room for my husband.

I think Beverly's suggestion of a dining/study combo is a good option. If you you divided the dining room with French doors, it seems that the clutter of your study space would still be visible even when the doors were closed - because they'd be glass.

You could look into a custom built-in unit that combines open shelving and doors. Your work surface (the clutter area" could be hidden behind the doors when not in use). Something like this:

I imagine two bi-fold doors that slide into the main shelving unit when open.

Another option would be to take a look at the breakfast nook. That could also be a nice spot for a study.

My sister also converted her dining room into an office. She does host some pretty large dinners due to the size of our family ( one of 6 kids and we all get together regularly with our husbands/wives/kids). She has a side table that converts to a table that she just sets up in the living room or her sun room when we have more guests than her kitchen table can seat.

Her's is not danish, but an antique cherry table, but same idea as this one.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/650549945/vintage-midcentury-drop-leaf-walnut?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=drop+leaf+table&ref=sr_gallery-6-7&organic_search_click=1&frs=1

Wow!! Thank you all so much! I genuinely appreciate your advice.

I just drew a layout and please forgive my many shortcomings, like not labeling the dining room. I don't have the dimensions, but have posted more pictures.

I've read and am considering everyone's suggestions. This project will be a second mortgage and that's factored into the equation. Trying to contain costs and have made lots of compromises - the first being that I allowed the Mr. to convince me to sell the house we built, tweaked, renovated and raised our children in!!! How do you think I got such a high budget ;-)

K Laurence is right, dining rooms are rarely used, but we still need a larger eating area for family togethers and holidays and the kitchen can't accommodate that.

What do you think about giving up 3 feet of the kitchen eating area so that the awkward laundry/power room combo can be divided into two rooms?

I am open to anything. This is just some of the advice we've gotten so far.

I am the mad scientist, and have learned to hide my clutter and disorganization in a way that people notice only if they prod and poke. Looking through french doors won't expose it, but entering it will!

Layout:

Living room:

Living room where it connects with dining room:

Family room with a wall of brick:

Family room opposite side the fireplace & brick, entrance to sunroom:

Sunroom (which is being converted into a screened in porch):

You have a lot of options here. The key question would be what do you use your study for? Do you conduct work there and need quiet? Do you make professional phone calls and need to have privacy?
I am curious as to where you think you would watch tv and “hang out” every night. There are quite a few spaces that could accommodate a desk and some shelving but if you need real work space, then one room can be sacrificed for that.
If the library/dining room idea would be adequate, then that is the most elegant and accommodating idea so far. Glad you posted the layout.

Thank you so much! No, I don't do professional work,]but do everything related to house, home and family and it doesn't seem like it, but that's a lot.

My husband's job was/is all consuming so I did/do all that. I'm used to my own space but can adjust. So are you thinking along the lines of what Beverly suggested, shelves along the dining room walls or dividing the room?

The room dimensions should be listed in the MLS Listing of the home. That would help greatly.

Are these the listing pictures, or is this your furniture in the new space? Guessing these are listing photos.

If this were my home I would have the windows in the kitchen changed to a sliding glass door.

I would then add a door to the family room and make this my office. I would use the living room as my living/family room. You really don't need two separate rooms unless you do a lot of formal entertaining.

Floor plan helps. Knowing how you use office also helps. If all BR are upstairs, can you move the laundry room upstairs for convenience? Is laundry room space big enough for your office storage and work surface needs? Those changes may help resale value. Is your breakfast nook big enough to enclose as an office and then you can eat all your meals at your DR table? Add small chairs and side table under DR windows for morning coffee? Family Room with fireplace may not make the best spot for an office since it is a pass-through room leading to the Sun Room. Empty nesters here are turning smallest BR into office with built-in cabinets and installing queen size Murphy bed for occasional guests.

Yes, the furnishings are from the listing photos. The house isn't listed on the MLS. It's a direct purchase from owner, so i need to get into it this week for measurements.

I would love to have sliders going to the yard from the kitchen. The dilemma there is that the half bath/laundry are in awkward shared room right next to the eat in area of the kitchen. I wish I had a photo to share with you. Is it better to leave them together, spruce it up a LOT and add the sliders, or to bypass the sliders and have separate laundry room (though small) and separate powder room?

The family room could be made into a lovely office, I think. I need to consider that and just use the living room as LR/FR combo. Why not? There are only 2 of us!!

Marylut,

Thank you for your input :-)

Resale value is so important - you are right. So you are thinking move laundry upstairs? The laundry room is small and it shares space with a half bath and needs some work and it can't be turned into an office - far too small, unfortunately.

In our current house, my office is off the family room and my husband's is in an extra bedroom. Works perfectly. In this new one, he'll move to the basement and I'm trying to find a spot for me.

You are right - the family room is a pass through room and currently the only way to get to the backyard. Though it still could make a cozy study. We are replacing the fireplace mantle and pulling it out, so that there can be freestanding shelves placed on either side of it. I'm torn between whitewashing the bricks or painting them white. I'm doing that job myself, so if the whitewash fails, then they're being painted white. Replacing the paneling with drywall and closing up two old skylights. Hopefully, that turns out nice.

You have a lot of options. The idea of a library/dining room/study was a good one. Is the room with the “light fixture” the dining room? Do you need a living room and a family room? I bet you only use one every day.

Do you have a master suite on first floor??

Bellburgmaggie,

Thank you for responding and I agree, lots of options and combining it into dr/library/study is a good idea, though my husband is nixing it.

Yes, the unlabelled room is the dining room - what's wrong with me?!

Probably don't need both a LR and FR. The master bedroom is on the second floor.

I’d seriously consider using the family room for your study/office. If it’s just two of you, one “living room” should suffice. What about the sun room? It hasn’t been mentioned as an option.

The sunroom isn’t heated & is in rough shape. Going to make it a screened in porch because that’s the easiest and most cost efficient route to take, plus it’s a nice feature.

Oops, posted too quickly. Thank you and I am considering that.

How much space do you need for a study? How large is your current space? That could be a starting point to figuring out this new home's layout. Could your current space be pared down or is too small? Some people turn closets into home offices. It really depends on your needs - work surface and storage-wise. Have you thought of moving in and figuring it out then? As you say, you have a lot of space for two empty nesters. Trust that you can both make it work.

Perhaps a room of your own upstairs will please you. (Quiet and light-filled?) I agree with others though: a living room is often redundant when there's a family room but that's something people end up figuring out after living there for a while. Maybe you'll want to totally redo the kitchen by borrowing space from the current dining room for one larger eat-in area for all occasions. Also, don't forget that if you go with French doors in a space and find they don't hide your clutter, you can always add drapes or shades to the doors. You have options. You can totally make this work, I'm sure. :)

OK, well if you are empty nesters with a second floor master, I am going to throw a monkey wrench into the study discussion. You need a first floor space where you can put a bed and which has a usable 3/4 bath (shower, sink, toilet) and a closet. Nothing else should be planned until this is added to the first floor. What are you planning to do if you fall and break a hip, have surgery or some other life event and can’t climb those stairs to your master? Think that’s not going to happen - well it happened to me in 2011 and its now happened to my neighbor who just got dx with ovarian cancer. Stuff happens, plan for it.

Tartanmeup,

Thank you for your wisdom. You're right - we'll make it work some how. Truth is, the current study isn't large, 9.5 x 11, and I could take some square footage away and not even miss it.

Whenever I suggest pushing the kitchen into the dining room, everyone gets all excited and tells me to calm down. I think it's great idea. The kitchen & bathroom planner is a magician and I'm meeting him on Thursday. Cannot wait to hear his views and see his plan. When I was planning my last kitchen remodel, all the planners basically gave me back my old kitchen with different cabinets, etc. He designed a much improved, different kitchen.

We are very very fortunate to have sold the house in 3 days with 6 offers and the realtor said it was the kitchen and the bathrooms that sold it (and right price, too!!!)

I believe a space should be lived in before being reno'd and that's my first choice - get in there and feel what's needed, but the bathrooms are a little rough. So, I was hoping to get it done quickly while living in a rental (big baby!!)

Bellburgmaggie,

Wait, wait, wait, wait!!! Lol!! I just turned 56 last week! But it's true - sickness or injury can happen to anyone at anytime. Let me mull this over with my better half . . . and the kitchen/bathroom planner. The two of them get equal say! And, I'm very sorry for your neighbor :(

Donna

I hope this will be paid off by retiring! I agree with Maggie.

If you move laundry upstairs, would that give you enough room to add a curbless shower with bench to 1/2 bath? Maybe turn it into a wet room?

A family room can be a bedroom with bath. U do have a LR.

Hate to chime in with this one, but I bought my home 2 1/2 years ago, planned to renovate myself and had the budget set to do so. I was an active, healthy, 55 year old, newly single woman. Owned and trained my own horses, rode horses, worked, hiked, swam. Low blood presure, low cholesteral, normal ranges on every blood test.

While in escrow I got sick and went to the ER, found out I had a bowel obstruction that was caused by lymphoma. The next spring I went horseback riding while in Costa Rica, fractured 4 vertebrea. Just 2 months ago I had a major heart attack (99% blockage in the widow maker). Will turn 58 in June.

Prior to this I had not had a major health concern since I got my appendix out in the 5th grade.

I am glad now that I didn't buy a farm and decided to board my horses and buy a ranch style home on a small lot (1/3 acre).

My reno projects are going really slow.

following.

and Jennifer, sorry to hear about your health issues, but hope you are doing ok

I hope ur doing better Jen!

" I do everything related to house , home, family".........

I'd take that to mean: any and all maintenance repair of home issues and records, all the medical records which now mean mostly the two of you and maybe aging parents, taxes of all types, all the holiday gatherings, travel, photographs, bills and all finances etc. to include even possibly the parents.

Rather than re think the entire house to close a space for this, think about hiring someone to assess how you manage all this stuff. The COMPUTER is your friend. Yes, there is paper. Ninety percent of which can be scanned to a file and backed up in a cloud. Thousand of photos, same thing, and frankly the ease of TAKING and printing photo's has overwhelmed too many folks.. they aren't ALL special , really. I have clients storing thousands in boxes, unaware of good, bad, meaningless or special.

I work from my dining space. Along with one eight foot tall, four foot wide shelved closet. I have done this for thirty years. The basement holds the stale years and client records. A quick tidy of this space in the am, can result in a table set for company an hour later under candlelight.

The point to this is: Your statement implies a ton of PAPER. Re think your process, hire someone to help with this for the daily, weekly, monthly yearly management of all of it.

Use the dining room table...........tidy up, and have a really great laptop. Change your work habits, rather than create a hide away: )

This is the sole reason the huge desks, cumbersome built ins, have largely disappeared from newer homes. A phone, a lap top and the very digital age.

I’m so glad you have a great designer with whom you’ve done a project. That changes everything.

Jan: I appreciate your point of view (on lots of things) but some of us need more room for our business stuff. I have never been able to transfer my business to a laptop only concept. Probably never will, even after I retire and stop running my consulting practice.
I would take a whole room in this house for my study since the layout is so generous.

Planning for a “just in case” downstairs bedroom and bath is wise. But at 55, you may just need to have thoughts on what you would do if something happens.

I love all of Beverly,s suggestions , but if that isn't working and you can't compromise on any room ...the last thing I would do is use the dining room if you are messy and need a door to hide everything . Build an outdoor study a small space with a big window to look out into your beautiful garden ..make it your study with a little wood burning stove ..that you can enjoy your mess and work in piece without taking over any usable and needed space ...would be my suggestion . Life is so easy ...if you compromise ...!

Cookie cutter suggestions based on how I live my life or someone else lives their life are so easy, but the truth is, if you don't keep a clean desk or a clean inbox, your stripes are probably not going to change.

I spend 10 hours a day at my desk for work and usually an hour or more on the computer for my own stuff. My office is the most used room in my home. I needed a dedicated space and a nice atmosphere.

My mom had a corner desk in our family room and it worked fine for her morning calls and dayplanner. Had a file drawer for her bills and was able to function quite well even before computers. She was very organized and neat. Her rule was to never touch a piece of paper more than once, so when she got the mail she went directly to her desk and paid every bill and took care of every notice.

Each person is different and needs their home to function based on their habits and preferences.

Donna, Jan's idea of adopting a laptop has merit. It might not totally work for you but perhaps a professional organizer could help you explore a new system and pare down your stuff when you move. That kind of stuff that can be hard to do on our own. Sometimes an impartial voice with new insights can help.

Jennifer, I'm so sorry this happened to you and hope you're fully on the mend now.

I want to thank everyone for prying lose some of my mental concrete and giving me much to think about regarding this house. I'm so glad to have read your views and advice so that I can ponder them and conceptualize before bulldozing ;-)

Jennifer,

I'm sorry you went through all that and see where you're coming from. Hopefully, that is all behind you now. You're advice to be prepared is from experience.

Jan,

You're right about the purpose of my study. I'm kicking around everything you've mentioned, streamlining, storing on the cloud and I do a lot of that currently. I could easily get away with a 5 x 10 office, even 5 x 8. I'm wondering if I'm holding onto an old model that no longer is needed. With kids running around, an undisturbed work area was critical. I'm trying to open my mind to finding a spot on the first floor, like a corner of the family room, that could work just as good as a study. Thank you.

RedRyder,

I am very fortunate to have met this man!!! He is creative and practical and the nudges he gave me, like trying to tell me to buy something in particular, without tell me straight-out, buy this! were spot-on nudges. I disregarded one minor suggestion, thinking, c'mon, does that make a difference? Yes, it did and I still regret not listening to him.

skunst2017,

At first I thought, what? outdoor study? but now I'm thinking that could be something special. I'm in a northern zone with lots and lots and lots of snow, though I don't intend on sticking around here but a few years. I'm filing that idea away for the next move to a more temperate climate. If I tell my husband, he's going to steal the idea!!

Donna :-)

I would turn the larger of the living room or family room into a first floor master. And I would insulate/renovate the sun room for a study/office. Being able to look out on beautiful surroundings can clear the mind, calm emotions, uplift spirits. What a great room for an office!

There's another idea, teamaltese! I think the lesson is to disregard the room's labels, Donna. You can turn any room into anything you need. It's your house. :)

Thank you all - you've given me so much to think and rethink about. I appreciate it very much.

If it ever gets done, I'll post pics. But don't worry, I'll have a million dilemma's and questions before then. :-)