Have you suddenly found yourself with a spare room? If your dining area is small or part of a larger great room, it can be a wonderful idea to turn that spare bedroom, family room, or den into a more formal dining room. You can still leave your primary kitchen table in the smaller dining area for everyday use, while the enclosed dining room is perfect for dinner parties or family gatherings.
Converting a spare bedroom into a formal dining room isn’t expensive, difficult, or time-consuming. Here are the simple steps you can take to create your own dining room from a spare room.
Start by making the room more accessible
You don’t have to do a complete remodel and knock out the door of the spare room to use it as a dining room. However, you should replace the traditional bedroom door with one that is hinged and pushes in either direction, much like those doors found in commercial and industrial kitchens. You could also opt for a curtain instead of a doorway, or you can decorate the doorway and simply remove the door itself.
Redo or cover the floor
Most spare rooms are already carpeted. If you don’t want the room to be carpeted as a dining room, you can undertake a minor remodeling project, pull up the old carpet (tips here), and lay a new finished floor. Generally, this would be wood, parquet, vinyl, or tile.
But you don’t have to spend that extra money if it’s not in your budget. There are some other things you can do to protect your floors from spills and stains during dining. One option is to purchase a clear plastic mat large enough for the dining table to be centered up on it with a few inches of extra room along the perimeter. The downside to this is that chairs sliding on plastic is not an appealing sound, and it doesn’t look great even though it is the most practical.
Instead, buy some basic area rugs that match the rest of the décor in your new formal dining room, says LovetoKnow. You can get some very nice rugs that are inexpensive and easier to clean so that you can protect the original flooring in the room without worrying about ruining a more expensive rug.
Find the right dining table set
Getting a dining table that fits in your enclosed dining room isn’t necessarily an easy thing to do. Dining tables are not generally built to be fit through a traditional doorway. However, you can get a dining table set that can be taken into the room in pieces and reassembled within the room. This is the best option if you want to get a larger dining table.
You can also look for dining tables that offer extension leaves so that you can expand your seating arrangements if necessary. This is ideal if you will be hosting gatherings of varying sizes. The more versatile your dining table and accompanying seating, the easier it will be to hold whatever type of dinner party that you wish. If you are going to go with a table that extends, make sure you also choose matching dining chairs that can easily be stacked or moved out of the way when not needed.