Change your dining room into a functional kid's room.
If space is limited in your home, and you have a rarely used dining room, capitalize on this square footage by transforming the dining room into an extra kid's bedroom. By configuring a new layout for your home, repurposing furniture, adding a new color and infusing your child's personality in the room, you can take a neglected dining room to a new level as a kid's room.
Instructions
1. Reroute traffic. Because you are probably accustomed to going through the dining room to get to the kitchen, you will have to make a new path to the kitchen. Remove the door from the dining room to the kitchen and create a solid wall between the two rooms. If your kitchen lacks two doorways, create a second doorway in another wall. For a more temporary solution, block off access to the dining room by putting a bookcase in front of the doorway. Keep it from toppling over by securing it to the wall. Or if you have French doors between the two rooms, put frosted glass in the panels or add curtains, and lock the doors shut.
2. Remove the dining room furniture. Remove the table, chairs, light fixture and sideboard. Install a suitable bedroom light fixture. Repurpose items that can double as storage or bedroom furniture. Use a china cabinet to display trophies, for example. A buffet can serve as sports storage or a television stand. Keep a chair to place in front of the desk.
3. Devise a plan for a closet. Build a closet by sectioning off a portion of the room. Bring in an armoire, or purchase a free-standing closet. Another alternative is to build several shelves so that he can keep his clothes tidy.
4. Paint the room. Pick a color that matches your child's style and will help define the space as a bedroom. Consider adding wallpaper, a border or a stenciled design to the walls.
5. Add bedroom furniture. Place his bed, dresser and desk in the room. Add a nightstand or two. Add storage containers to corral his toys, sports gear, games and books.
6. Accessorize. Place a colorful rug in the center of his room. Frame pictures of her with her friends and family. Recycle a page from a favorite but worn-out, book. Place the page in a picture frame, add a photo mat, and hang it on the wall. Place a colorful lamp on a nightstand. Use patterned paper to spell out her name in a decorative frame. Add the letters to canvas to make your own artwork.
Tags: dining room, bedroom furniture, , dining room into, dining room kitchen, light fixture, Place colorful