Many homes in our area have a “formal” living room that’s usually off to the side of the entrance. To me, this room is SUCH a waste a space, because why would we need both a formal and informal living room? As I thought a little more about how I want to purpose the space for our family’s needs, it occurred to me that it would be put to good use as a hobby or music room!
I’d love to do something like this with our piano - Image credit
And with this BOMB-ASS color scheme! (image source unknown)
Formal Living Room - Before
As you can see, the formal living room connects to the dining room. This works out well because I was thinking about storing our board games in the hobby room then playing them on the dining table. Another design consideration is making sure that the colors in the two adjacent rooms are cohesive! But since I chose a color palette for our entire home at the very beginning, I’m pretty confident that everything will mesh well together.
Hobby Room Mood Board
pink couch | green armchair | Ikea Billy bookcase | coffee table | monstera leaf rug | sheer curtains | similar arc lamp | white area rug | sheepskin rug
As shown in the first inspiration picture, I want to build a book case around our piano. That can hold all of our board games! See more beautiful executions of this in the Pinterest board below.
Speaking of piano, I learned to play in elementary school but haven’t played since. I’d like to get back into it, now that that my childhood piano will be so accessible (it currently sits untouched at my parents’ house). HB has a guitar, but he doesn’t know how to play it! I want to keep it though, on the off-chance we decide to learn. Or our kids can learn instead! 
Add a couple of seating options, and this once useless “formal” living room turns into an entertainment space. You can bet that our kids are going to learn some sort of musical instrument in true Asian-kid fashion. I will try my best to just sit and enjoy it and not turn into a Tiger Mom. Haha!
What sorts of hobbies do you enjoy?
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