5 Ways To Repurpose Your Dining Room

By Towne Home Furnishings

You bought a home with a formal dining room. Nothing wrong with that. Problem is, you can count on one hand how many times you’ve actually enjoyed it. So you haven’t turned into the gracious dinner host you thought you’d be. Why reserve that valuable space for “someday” when it can serve you so much better today.

5 Alternative Uses For Your Dining Room: 

Homey Home Office. Already have a rectangular dining room table? Take away all but one seat, or remove them all and replace with a sumptuous accent chair. Boom, the perfect desk arrangement loaded with surface space. A desk and underlying rug at an angle might be even more dynamic. And that chandelier? Looks just as good over your desk as it did over the table. If you do invite dinner guests, return the chairs for a quick fix.

Homework Area/Playroom/Craft Room. Dining rooms easily make the grade as homework areas, playrooms and craft rooms, too. Very on trend, tables with heavy distressing make it easier to hide the occasional slip of a crayon or marker. You can bring in couple of stylish bookshelves for cubby space or use your existing buffet or server for storing supplies. They’re not just for plates and silverware anymore!

Breakfast Bistro/Cafe/Sitting Room. Imagine your dining room as your favorite neighborhood cafe, complete with a bistro table and chairs (in lieu of a dining room table) and a lounge seating area, maybe with a wall-mounted TV. What a perfect place to sip your morning coffee, check your email and get yourself perked up for the day. When it’s time to unwind, your cafe serves as your wine bar.

Pool Hall/Bar Lounge/Party Central. Love the thought of having people over but dread having to cook and serve? Break from the ordinary. Turn your dining room into a cool hangout space, complete with a bar, pool or ping pong table and wall-mounted TV. A few swivels chairs will really keep the conversation flowing.

Music Room/In-Tune Space. Maybe you play the piano or guitar, or perhaps your little ones are budding musicians? Turn your dining room into a music room with instruments on display, fun seating, music-themed artwork and your music collection. Or, stretch the possibilities by turning the space into a yoga or dance studio, if that’s what really moves you.

Have better ideas for an underused dining room?

Content provided by: +Tailbase & Ashley Furniture

www.tailbase.com

Get Your Home In The Halloween Spirit

By Towne Home Furnishings

October has come fast and Halloween will be here before you know it. Get ready for a frightfully good time by prepping the house early so you can celebrate in style. 

Decorate inside and out

Make your house “spooktacular!” Surprise trick-or-treaters on your doorstep with thrilling decorations, homemade or store bought. Here’s a perfect opportunity to get the kids involved. For example, transform your front yard into a haunted graveyard. Headstones can be set up with bones laid out and zombies placed so they look like they’re creeping up out of the ground. Put green, orange and purple lights on the bushes. Position spiders on the house and set spotlights on them. Stretch sprawling webs across the shrubs, doorway and shutters for a haunted effect. Scarecrows are fun to set up too!

Trick out the inside

Here's an example on how to set up a spooky Halloween party at the kitchen counter or dining table.

Make plans

You can also involve the kids with a craft project like making a bunch of cheesecloth that can be hung around the house. Wrap the banisters with Halloween style garland. Add lights if you dare. Clear off the mantle, tabletops, bookcase or the top of the entertainment center and decorate with Halloween accents like ceramic pumpkins, lighted haunted houses and animated spooks.

Content provided by: +Tailbase & Ashley Furniture

www.tailbase.com