Maybe you can invest in comfortable chairs?
The important question is, did it work? Before realizing the the chair situation, did the three of you gravitate to this area?

Agree with ellendi that investing in comfortable chairs is probably worthwhile, esp. with retirement (and older age) coming up!

Storage can always be created cheaply with some creativity (and Craigslist!).

I'd say keep working on the room, and let bygones be bygones. It'll get there, and some day maybe you'll be playing games there with grandchildren and you'll be very glad you did it!

Thank you Ellendi & Tibbrix. I do need to let bygones be bygones, especially since I can't undo it. The only one using this room was me which is what I thought needed to change. I now realize that as I will soon be home a lot by myself it was probably pretty good the way it was.

So make it good the way it is! Make it your place but also one where you can have that family-gathering thing. You could end up with the best of both worlds here!

Craigslist!!!! If you have the patience, you can re-purpose or recover a lot of things you can find for super cheap.

Could you add some cushions, or re-stuff the current chairs?

I'm just going to ask a stupid question. Do you already have a dining area? I don't understand why you'd put a dining room arrangement in an office.

What's done and gone is done and gone. However, for future reference, *never* listen to a man who says, "That's not gonna sell."

I've gotten so much support and good advice from the people here, why not carry on with photos and more questions? I'll bet you can fix this mistake with very little outlay.

Linelle it's not a stupid question. We don't have a dining room. We all prefer our laptops plugged in, but there aren't sufficient outlets in the kitchen (not without running extension cords) and I don't want the laptops left on the kitchen table.

In case it might make you feel better, I just did something similar, except I spent A LOT OF MONEY to make life less comfortable :(.

I have been wanting a different dining room 'look' for years, a change from my mother's colonial style table and chairs a large hutch I bought from the same vendor to match.

This summer I got all excited to finally update the room and eventually ordered a DR table and six chairs from Ethan Allen. Although I thought I had factored in the measurements and that everything would fit, as soon as they delivered the table my heart sank seeing how huge it looked in the space. Although I had already planned to donate the old buffet, It quickly became obvious there isn't any space to put anything against the wall with the larger table, so I lost quite a lot of storage in the room. I also soon realized that having the larger table available for the one-two days per year that we host large groups, one of the big drivers of the table decision, actually means that the table takes up way more space than we need for the two of us, the only users for every day dining. Even the new table leaves are much bigger than my previous ones, so I haven't even been able to find space to store them somewhere out of sight.

The chairs turned out to be a debacle too; the angle of the seats makes one lean waaaay further back than is comfortable to eat, so you have to sort of perch on the front of the seat and they are so very wide, far bigger than we need.

And since I had to have Ethan Allen? I spent literally several thousand dollars to set up a DR that is not as comfortable for daily use and far too big for what we need.

Although admittedly the style is more what I like, and it works with the rest of my furniture the utility and comfort factors are far worse than what we had before and I spent way too much money to boot. I'm really kicking myself on this one.

Experience is a hard teacher...it gives the test first and then the lesson....

Craigslist to the rescue. You do not have to spend much at all to get a nice comfy room back. People sell nice furniture for rock bottom prices for many reasons- marriage and combining households, job moves, and just as you did, redecorating.
You can have it back and cuter than ever, and this time do not listen to anyone except yourself.
Family togetherness comes and goes in my experience, if you want, buy several comfy chairs so you'll be prepared. depending on what

Annie is so right! Runninginplace I don't feel better that you're kicking too but I thank you for sharing your story - I do feel for you.
Tomatofreak and everyone else thanks for putting a more positive spin on my negative feelings. When I come back from vacation, I'm going to come back to GW for help with this.
I just moved the table an inch or two - it's definitely not centered but it gives me more room to pull out my chair. A little more comfortable now that I'm not squeezing into the chair sideways & resting on one hip.

When I do something that doesn't turn out the way I want it to, I try to laugh and call it a life lesson. If I never made a mistake in my life, I don't think I would be growing, but boy, oh boy, some of those life lessons are expensive. :-)

Like other posters mentioned, I would look for some super comfortable office chairs on wheels and add a file cabinet or some shelves for storage to make the room work for you and your family.

How much time do you expect to spend at your laptops in a typical day?

Unless it is and you expect it to remain pretty brief, I think a comfortable, ergonomic, adjustable chair is important. Getting something suitable may save vs. spending copays for doctor and physio visits for back, shoulder, etc. issues. There might be an office surplus place or such where you can get something suitable, but if not, I think it is worth buying.

If any of you are short like me, a good adjustable foot rest is relatively inexpensive and makes a difference.

Storage should be able to be picked up free or inexpensive used from places like Craigslist, Freecycle, garage sales, Goodwill and other thrift stores. Bookshelves, file cabinets, a dresser to hold office supplies - whatever you need.

Running in place, you should have returned the set to Ethan Allen and told them it didn't work.

I was trying to use what we already have (the small dining table & chairs that were stored in the basement) to create a space where we can all sit together to use our laptops (otherwise I would have kept the large desk & comfy computer chair with massage functions and my private office space).

i did love your idea though........maybe you can come up with some better solutions soon
also love your name i'm sure i need it more than you........

I think it was really sweet to think of a way for your family to be together more - so sorry how it all turned out. I have done things like that and it's frustrating!

running - I had the same thing happen to me with a kitchen table I bought. And I measured and measured - that kind of thing just makes me sick. So sorry!

Just thought I'd update this....Son did not move back so just need space for two of us. Emptied out the room, painted it Coventry Gray (so much better than the olive colour that was there), got two small matching desks and a small area rug. Kept the same art, lamp, etc.