What to do with living room?

[Anonymous]

Our living room is one of the largest rooms in our smallish 1930s house so I really want to put it to good use. We already have a small family room off the kitchen so I wasn't sure what to do with the living room. I'm afraid if I make it into a formal living room it will never be used (and we have young children so want them to be comfortable in the space as well). I was thinking of making it another family room/media room but then I worry about having a television in every room on the main floor. Anyway, I am just not sure what to do with this space so would love to hear your suggestions about what worked for your families.

[Anonymous]

I feel like we have two "family rooms" --the real living room at the front of the house that has no tv but a ton of kids toys (wish it was better decorated/had better storage to hide the kids' toys, which is probably key) and the one downstairs that has the TV, family pics, more toys, etc. The furniture quality is the same and nothing is off-limits to the kids in both rooms though, so it does get used but doesn't look very formal. I'm fine with that.

I think it's ok to have two living spaces. Ours both get used, it's just that we're much more likely to be watching TV in the one downstairs. I like having a room to hang out and play in, entertain, etc. where there's no TV--that's really our living room.

[Anonymous]

If you have a small family room off the kitchen, how about turning that into a kids' playroom, and turning the living room into a slightly nicer family room? Not a formal living room, but a comfy space with seating and a big TV/entertainment unit where you can relax, have friends over, and not be tripping over toys. I'm thinking like Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel transitional style - casual, comfortable, usable by kids, but still a "grown up" room.

I would keep the kids' toys and stuff (not sure a TV is even necessary) in the small room right off the kitchen, so you can keep an eye on them when you're in the kitchen, but I'd make the larger room into a usable family room that's not full of toys and kid stuff. I'd put a big TV in there. You can have the kids in there to watch a video, etc, but I would make the smallish room their main "playroom" with toy storage, furniture & fabrics that will stand up to kids, etc.

I agree formal rooms don't get used much. We have plenty of space, but we're about to get rid of our formal dining room (making it part of the kitchen) because, while we love the room and the formal furniture in there, we just don't use it and decided we'd rather have more of our space be usable on a daily basis. We have a formal living room and again, we love the room and Dh & I will sit in there sometimes, alone or when we have company, but I don't even let my kids on the furniture in that room - that's not workable if you have a smaller house.

I do not think there's anything weird about having a family room, playroom and no living room. It sounds like that will be the best use of your space.

[Anonymous]

PP has a good idea. And put the TV in a hutch so you don't have to see it if you don't want to.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the great ideas!

[Anonymous]

Agree also, that makes perfect sense for your space.

[Anonymous]

We also turned our small family room into a playroom, and put the TV and other media items in the living room, which DH and I typically use when DC is in bed.

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of having a playroom off te kitchen and using the other room as a an informal media/gathering for family and/or guests. I'd still put a TV in the playroom, though, for those times that you have friends over and want the kids to watch a movie while the adults talk or play a game after dinner. As your kids get older, you can add a desk and computer to the playroom for the kids to use both for play and HW.

[Anonymous]

11:20 here. The only reason I suggested not putting a TV in the playroom was b/c OP said she didn't want to feel like there were TVs in every room. If it were me, I probably would put a small TV in there for kids to watch DVDs, but I think she could go either way on that, depending on her preference. In the playroom, I like the desk idea - she could start out with a kids' table & chair set for arts & crafts, etc and when they get bigger upgrade to more of a real desk space for homework.

[Anonymous]

OP here--so I wouldn't let this color my decision at all but I'm surprised that some people I've talked to seem really aghast at the idea of a television in the living room. I completely understand the idea of not wanting to be a slave to the television but I think that the traditional idea of a formal living room has become obsolete for many families and does not suit their lifestyle. To each their own I guess!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here--so I wouldn't let this color my decision at all but I'm surprised that some people I've talked to seem really aghast at the idea of a television in the living room. I completely understand the idea of not wanting to be a slave to the television but I think that the traditional idea of a formal living room has become obsolete for many families and does not suit their lifestyle. To each their own I guess!

Don't worry about those who are aghast. It's your home and I like the idea of a cozy family room versus the never used (and we have one) formal living room. I also like the idea of the kids play room, down the road homework hang out place off of the kitchen. Sounds great!! Have fun with it. Does your formal living room have a fireplace? Sounds like a nice place for the family and friends to gather and put their feet up (thinking great comfy sofas, ottoman, tv in cabinet or some such thing, a few games, bookshelves, etc. ). Enjoy your home.

[Anonymous]

How about the TV in the family/playroom and use the front living room as an "escape" where you can read the newspaper and books away from the TV and other distractions?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! We decided to go with an option similar to what one poster recommended--two family rooms.

The small room off the kitchen will have our television. The living room (which has a fireplace) will be another casual area to hang out, read, entertain but without the television. We plan to have casual transitional pieces in the living room so it won't be off limits to the kids.

I loved the idea of the playroom but realized because of the way the room off the kitchen is configured it wouldn't be the safest area for our just crawling daughter to play in so the playroom will be in the basement.

[Anonymous]

just read this post. have exact same situation at home and family room off kitchen will be tv/playroom/family room, and front living room, will be hang out/read/listen to music room.
have fun with it.

[Anonymous]

If you've got the room for it in the larger room, you might consider getting a game table that can be used for board games, puzzles or projects (e.g., sorting photos for a scrapbook, holiday cards). We did this and love having a place where we can leave the scrabble game set up for days without having to move it everytime we want to sit down to dinner. You don't need that much room -- a gateleg table pushed against a wall can even work -- and you don't need to have chairs designated for that table as long as you have chairs that can be pulled up from other parts of the room or from an adjacent room.