Subject: Ohio.com Placement
From: "Merilee Kern" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:32:16 -0700

http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/96710019.html

Alternative ideas for living rooms 
Published on Saturday, Jun 19, 2010 

Not much living goes on in a lot of living rooms. Dallas interior designer Elaine Williamson has some ideas for alternative uses for formal living rooms: 

. Convert it to a library or reading den. Besides reclaiming the room's functionality, it gives you a place for all the books that tend to accumulate around the house. 

. Create a music lounge. Outfit it so residents and guests can listen to and play music there. 

. Turn it into a dining room. If the room is fairly large, you'll have space for a big, elegant table, a sideboard and other appropriate furnishings, If you already have a smaller formal dining space, turn it into a reading den, sitting room or home office. 

. If the living room is not in a highly visible place in the house - that is, right inside the front door - consider turning it into a media or theater room. That transition is easiest if the room already has doors and few windows, but you can add doors and heavy window coverings to block light. 

. Create a billiard room and bar, a children's play room, an exercise room or a craft studio. If necessary, add a door to hide clutter. 

More information on Williamson is at http://www.ElaineWilliamsonDesigns.com. 

Not much living goes on in a lot of living rooms. Dallas interior designer Elaine Williamson has some ideas for alternative uses for formal living rooms:

. Convert it to a library or reading den. Besides reclaiming the room's functionality, it gives you a place for all the books that tend to accumulate around the house.

. Create a music lounge. Outfit it so residents and guests can listen to and play music there.

. Turn it into a dining room. If the room is fairly large, you'll have space for a big, elegant table, a sideboard and other appropriate furnishings, If you already have a smaller formal dining space, turn it into a reading den, sitting room or home office.

. If the living room is not in a highly visible place in the house - that is, right inside the front door - consider turning it into a media or theater room. That transition is easiest if the room already has doors and few windows, but you can add doors and heavy window coverings to block light.

. Create a billiard room and bar, a children's play room, an exercise room or a craft studio. If necessary, add a door to hide clutter.

More information on Williamson is at http://www.ElaineWilliamsonDesigns.com.