We turned our formal dining room into a sitting room, we call it our den. It's a nice sunny room and we use it a lot. There is no TV, just a sofa and a few chairs.

I have a dining room I don't use daily, but it is open to other rooms. If it was a room that could be closed off (4 walls/a door,) I would add a sleeper couch and chairs in that area. That would give me a place to sit with people who stop by and add an additional sleeping space.

What other type of space do you need and/or desire in your home?

Giid question, lolauren. I'd love a library, but can't afford beautiful bookcases...

Nothing some Ikea Billy Bookcases and some trim couldn't take care of! I love the idea of a library!

Our home was originally meant to have a formal dining room. It also had a large sunroom off the kitchen. Since we're not formal folks I drew up some changes and sent it off to the architect. We all love to read so it made more sense to have a library and by closing off the door way into the kitchen we now have one. I found three solid wood bookcases on Craigslist with upper glass doors and solid ones below that almost fill one of the walls. We had a similar book case without doors from our last home so that will go between windows on the opposite wall when I refinish it. We've other plans for more bookshelves we'll build ourselves, but for now it's on it's way to being a great home library.
So check your local CL, thrift stores and garage sales or if you really want new then check out unfinished furniture stores online to save money.
Good luck!

How would you really use the room?
When you say library, do you mean the way a library looks appeals to you or do you have a ton of books and like to read?

Two different functions.

We have an "L" shaped living room/dining room set up. We don't have a formal dining set, and never have needed one. But with computers and two kids who play instruments, we needed a music/computer room. So that is what we have!

bumblebeez, I do have a ton of books, and I do love to read. I want the look to be part comfy, part WOW!, and part not-too-traditional. I think it would be cool to house my cookbook collection there...a couple of chairs...

I decorate my dining room as a dining room, eating at it only a few times a year. Other times of the year, the table is used as a sewing table or gift wrap table, or to spread papers out on. In the past I have held community meetings around my dining room table.

Right now there are two freshly reglazed window sashes drying on the table.

In my old house, we turned the dining room into our home office. It went from the least used room in the house to the most used room in the house.

Laurie

Sometimes I think the problem is with the 'formal' in Formal Dining Room.

We have a longish-large room for ours, but there is no formality: no hutch with beautiful dishes, etc., the "centerpiece" is a basket with salt and pepper shakers and paper napkins. Just a long, slightly beat-up table that seats 10 easily, 14 if they all squeeze in shoulder to shoulder. When we have people over, this becomes the gathering place. The seats are padded and comfortable. I toss snacks on the table. Folks can sit with elbows on the table and their drinks handy. If they have nothing to say, they can look occupied by munching on something. I can't get them to move to the living room or family room.

Last week, I looked around at the crowd and realized that if I had to downsize, I would keep the "large room with a table" and forgo the standard living room seating.

You can also make it a game room with a modest round table and chairs. That could coexist in a "library". We use our dining room table for games but with 4 of us, it is a little long, so 2 have to sit on one side. A smaller table would mean everyone can reach to pick up a card or roll the dice. It would also serve for extra seating if you have guests with kids. The kids can take the kitchen and adults can eat in the game room or vice versa.

One home that I lived in had an open plan living and dining room, but the kitchen was separate and had its own small eating area. I put a love seat, tea table and bookcase in the kitchen eating area. It made a great place to plan meals, relax with magazines or have coffee with a friend. The bookcase held my cookbooks and corralled my magazines.

I've seen pics here of wonderful things done with the Ikea Billy Bookases. I'd fill a wall with them and art and/or mirrors on another. Add a round table( with extensions for larger dining, if needed), and table-scape it like an entry table: flowers, books,etc.( def. books!). A great place to work a puzzle if anyone's into them. Only two or three chairs for the table,with two being narrow wing back , comfy parsons, or whatever that's upholstered. Cote de Texas has featured very popular wicker style from Cost Plus that imitates an $$ Belgian look. Hope there's some pics like this on Allison's link. Search for Ikeas Billy Bookcases.

I deliberately don't have a formal DR now but other uses might be as a den, library, craft room, home office, guest room, or playroom. Some of these uses could be combined with appropriate choices in furniture.

I follow the rule "Decorate for the way I live, not for the way the architect intended". One formal DR became a TV room. In another house one of the bedrooms became a TV room. In a different house I turned an extra bedroom into my sitting room. Many years ago an extra bedroom became the dogs' room! Have often turned a bedroom into a home office, den, or craft room.

I love having a dedicated INformal dining room! Yes, it's 'The Dining Room,' but it's not formal. Long farm table, comfortable chairs, warm lighting, flooring and surfaces that won't get damaged by kids or spills. A really warm and welcoming place to eat meals as a family or with friends.

The 'breakfast nook' has just never been my favorite. Even when the space is nice, the furniture is rarely of a caliber that brings joy to the users... I'd replace that with two comfortable wingback chairs and a tall side table -- the kind of place you could have a cup of coffee and read the paper, or sit with a glass of wine while your spouse makes dinner or cleans the kitchen. The other great use for a 'breakfast nook' IMO is as a kids' homework area or auxiliary baking table.

Another great use for an unused dining room is (if you can close it off) as a TV room. Get the TV out of your family room and reclaim that space as a family gathering area without the constant racket of a TV.

We have friends who have a pool table in theirs. Home office, library, craft room there are a lot of possibilities. It all comes down to you being willing to use your home the way YOU want to. If you are decorating to fit someone else's idea of "what should be" then bite the bullet and buy a dinning room set. If you want to claim your home, what would you like it to be?

your home sounds like it is laid out like ours. We made the dining room into our computer room/sitting room and probably get more use out of this room than any other