Not according to plan

There have been some changes in my plans for the new house. The downstairs consists of the living room, a dining room through a large archway and the kitchen. And that was my original plan for those three rooms.

Then, a few weeks ago, I was at a friend's house and I noticed that her dining room did not have a dining room table. Instead it had a couch, a desk, and all her bookcases. And on my walk home, I thought, why not?

In our current living room we have seven bookcases, all full, and my desk. I really don't want those things in the new living room, because it'll make it feel too crowded, and also because I want my desk out of direct earshot of the television. It's hard to write or do anything when the news is constantly shouting in the background.

And I know better then to try to turn down the news.

Table top?

So, a book room. An office. A library, a den, a sitting room, a parlor, a salon. One of those things, we haven't yet decided what it's going to be called. But the next thing I will be putting up on the Facebook internet yard sale will be my dining room table.

The new house is smaller, and we need to use the space wisely. Having a separate room where the books can live and where I can flop on a love seat and read while Mario watches TV in the other room is a far better use for the space than keeping it as a showcase for some nice furniture and a place to eat twice a year. At first I was a little iffy, but now I'm actually quite excited about it.

The problem: what to do with all the art currently on the dining room walls. It's a big room, with high ceilings, and even if the new room wasn't mostly being filled with bookcases, there wouldn't be enough wall space for all this. So some of it stays, some of it goes, and for one large piece, I have an idea.

The room in question

Is it totally weird that I want to put legs on this piece and turn it into a coffee table in front of my new love seat? It would take up too much wall space but I think it would actually make a really cool table. The glass is thick enough that using it as a table top, and maybe putting the occasional sock feet on it, won't break anything.

I'm going to give it a shot.  I might even have something around the house, in the attic or the basement, with legs that could be frankensteined onto it. Stay tuned