Reveal: Dining Room Office Combo

Today I am revealing the reconfiguration of my Modern Farmhouse dining room which includes our first wall demo and the build of a DIY banquette for office and electronic storage.

Just as “Nobody puts baby in a corner” (name that eighties movie quote), nobody confines Erica to a desk.

No matter how much I tried to create my own private work-space (like the time I designed a “moffice”- mudroom/office combo), when it was time to write a blog post or edit photos/video,  I always found myself gravitating to the dining room table. Not only did my dining room have better lighting, I felt much less confined and way more inspired while working there.

The problem with this arrangement, however, is that my blogging equipment (camera, laptop, tripod, etc), was beginning to completely invade the “dining” aspect of the space. Simply put- I was too freaking lazy to clean up my work mess in time for family dinners and as a result, our formal dining room became my formal office.

Even if I did get my act together long enough to clean up my work clutter, there was really nowhere to store my shiznit as we basically have very little closet space (and no vacant bedrooms) in our 1980’s fixer upper.

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Then one day as my husband began his first ever wall demo (expanding the entrance of our dining room off of the foyer), with our dining furniture pushed against the wall to protect it from the drywall dust, I had an epiphany.

Given the dining room basically serves as a hallway to our kitchen, the traditional dining furniture layout- with the dining table in the center of the room- always made foot traffic feel cramped. The space felt so much better with the furniture pushed against the focal wall. But how could we make this new arrangement look more intentional and custom?

With a DIY built-in dining banquette (you can read that tutorial here) of course…

When my husband and I began to plot out the dimensions for our built-in dining bench, we were sure to enclose one of the pre-existing electrical outlets- making this bench the perfect home base for my laptop (and any other electronic which may need charging).

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To account for the new furniture configuration, I had to find a light fixture (one with ample cord or chain slack) that I could swag from the center of the room, over to the new dining table location. Pictured above, you can see how the cords were manipulated to fit the new layout.

If by chance I need to charge my laptop while in use, I have an exposed electric outlet next to the bench as well.

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I am absolutely thrilled with the new configuration of this space.

Not only has it freed up traffic flow, it has maximized the functionality of this room. In many ways, the “formal” dining room seems like an antiquated notion.

My family and I are anything but “formal”.

Oh…I almost forgot to show you the result of my husband’s wall demo…

Here is the dining room entrance after knocking out the wall 12 inches on each side of the original opening…

While 2 feet doesn’t seem like much, it made the space feel so much more open and inviting (not to mention brighter).

And as you may have noticed, I recently had the rest of my house (living room, foyer and hallway), painted to match the dining room and kitchen (using Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace).

And just so you can gain a full appreciation of just how far this 1980’s dining nook has come, look at the “before” taken when we first moved in….

While it has taken almost five years to get the space just right (for us at least), the wait was totally worth it…

Thank you all so much for tuning in to another week of my shenanigans. If you found this post helpful or inspiring, please share with a friend or on social media (thanks for supporting this small biz of mine).

Now get out there and design some good vibes along with a fabulous life.

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Dining Nook Sources:

Wall Color- Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace

DIY Storage Bench Tutorial- Click here for the step-by-step post

Chandelier- click here

Art – click here

Faux Fiddle Leaf Fig tree- click here

Side Chairs- click here

Table runner- click here

Black Pillows- Hobby Lobby

Velvet Pillows- click here

Dining table and bench- Rooms to Go

Moss Balls- Hobby Lobby