Subject: Omaha World Herald Online Placement
From: "Merilee Kern" <[email-masked]>
To: "Elaine Williamson" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 2010 05:30:26 -0700

http://omaha.com/article/20100528/HOUSETOHOME05/100529568/-1

Lifestyle

Room for reinvention

 As modern-day life has become more casual, so have our living areas. If you have a formal living room or dining room that isn't being used, it may be time to reclaim the space. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By Elaine Williamson

If you are like most homeowners, your formal living room is useful for one primary thing: accumulating dust. 

Originally, formal living rooms were spaces in which special guests were entertained. However, as modern-day life has become more casual, so have our living spaces. Friends come in through the front door and are escorted to the family room, bypassing the formal living room all together. 

That leaves you with a wasted space that can cost a mint to decorate. There are endless ways to use this room and increase its value to your family (and future owners, should you well your home). Your options depend primarily on the room's location. 

If the living room is directly in front of the front door, the formal living room would be well-suited to convert into a library or a reading den. In addition to reclaiming the functionality of the room, you would have a place to store your family's books that tend to accumulate and clutter shelves all over the house. You also could consider using the space as a music room.

A larger living room, which often has a majestic fireplace and windows, could become your formal dining room, with a larger and more elegant table, sideboard or butler and other appropriate furnishings. The smaller formal dining space can then be utilized as a cozy and intimate reading den or sitting room where you can still have coffee or tea with special visitors. This smaller dining space can also be converted into a functional home office.

Your options expand greatly the less the formal living room is visible. It can be transformed into a media or theater room, a billiard room and bar, a children's play room or even an exercise or craft room. The best room to convert into a media room would have doors and very few windows. Of course, if your house has an open floor plan, you can easily add doors and use heavy window coverings to block the light. For the other usage alternatives, you would likely want to add doors to preserve the room's privacy or hide its clutter.

Today, a "living room" is what a homeowner makes of it. The days of formal living in one's own home and wasted square footage have predominantly passed. Whichever option you choose, rejoice in your reclaimed living space!

The author is a luxury interiors expert and a principal of Elaine Williamson Designs. www.ElaineWilliamsonDesigns.com