Dining Room Dilemma: Part 1

A few years ago some clients who were moving into their newly constructed house offered me their old Gunderson piano. At the time, I didn't think we had room for it and my mom had always wanted one so I gave it to her. The short of it is, she no longer wants it and since my now seven year old son seems to have a propensity for music I've decided to make room for it. Thus the design dilemma!

I have been wanting to move the function of the dining room more toward that of a library. I'm reluctant to just go for it and downsize the table and chairs to a library table. I don't know why, we hardly ever eat in there. More often than not it's the overflow table for when I have more than fourteen for dinner, which is what I seat around the table off the kitchen.

I've never been happy with the dining room. I think it's pretty- just not my style! I don't  care for Queen Anne style furniture- but like many I've been trying to make what I have into something that I like. 

We painted the chairs black and the table white a few years back. I covered the chairs in a cream colored chenille with  a damask print. I've never loved it- don't I sound like a brat!

I was thinking that the rug, with it's true blues and reds was not helping the cause so we put it in a different room but we all are not liking the bare floors. When they installed the floors I had them do a wood border around the dining room. My plan is to paint some sort of a Greek key border on the floor. I will definitely be blogging about that!

We tried a different rug and I love it! First of all, it's a rectangle (the other one was square) so it makes the room feel so much larger and I've always loved the border of this rug. The rug is a keeper!

It has a lot of purple and red but it also has that beautiful blue and an olive color that I'm loving. So here I am planning out my  new design for a dining room that's rarely used. And then this happens....

A big old, dark, (in desperate need of paint or refinishing) piano.

I like the lines of the piano but I think (I know) I've got to ditch the dining room scheme. There simply isn't enough room! My table is too big, the buffet and piano don't look good lined up against the same wall, so I've got to do it, Right? When I see and hear my son playing I know it's the right thing! I have made up my mind (besides it will give me something to blog about)! 

Consider this part one of the transformation of my dining room into a music room? a library? ...and what am I going to do with that piano- have any ideas? Paint colors? It's time to put together a design board! Luckily, Easter dinner is not at my house. 

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