I believe it’s important to make a home comfortable for you and your family’s needs. It makes me sad when I visit someone and they say something like, “that’s our formal living area but we NEVER use it, I wish it was an office (or playroom, study, etc).“  If you don’t have use for a space as it was presented to you when you purchased a house or in its current layout, don’t be afraid to change it.

For this reason I have converted our dining room into an office and creative studio space. Don’t get me wrong, I love a private dining area and one day that’s what the room pictured below will be. For now, when week-night dinners at our house are consumed in front of the television and guests inevitably gather around the kitchen island, I am happy to use the room in a way that makes sense for me today.

Here’s a peek at a section of the room I will begin to use as my home office:

BEFORE

AFTER

Before and After (alternate views)

The room was originally painted in butter cream-like tones (a bit darker than what the photos reveal).  I decided to change it for  something that would allow bright artwork and colorful accents to really stand out.

I almost chickened out on the selection of white – would it look too plain, too boring? By selecting varying paint sheens (semi-gloss white for trim and matte white for the walls), it is anything but. The walls beneath the chair rail are painted in a satin finish (Benjamin Moore’s Iron Mountain Gray) and I absolutely love the result.