Shuffling spaces to keep up with life

There is something so satisfying about taking a space and completely rearranging it to become more versatile. I'm of the camp that believes you can do more with less. It's about utilizing the space you do have in the most efficient, effective manner. You'd be surprised by how much dead space you can transform into useful areas.

You might have noticed that my dining room plans went straight out the window when we moved it into the living room.  (full pictures to come as soon as my rug arrives!)

And lo and behold, I actually prefer the dining room out in the open. It really felt a bit claustrophobic before. My original intent, as the room was small to begin with, was to encompass it in a rich, warm deep tone- we chose pumpkin.

But now that it is my office, the color just doesn't feel right for a work space. And yes, I get to share it with an ancient upright piano that nobody uses. (We would love to move it elsewhere, but that thing ways a TON and we'd have to hire piano movers, I'm sure.) So, the color will probably have to change again to suit the new purpose of the room. While it was a dining room, I liked the energy and mood it created. But in an office setting, I can't quite get myself to calm down and focus. Interesting, no? Notice how the function of a space can really dictate the color palette?

So, you might be wondering, what happened to the space I used to occupy for office work?

 

 Here it is, almost emptied of all my work stuff, ready for its tranformation into...

a baby room! Our first child, a girl, is due at the beginning of June, and I'm already toying with a bazillion different color options for the room...  as you can well imagine.

We'll probably reuse our old rug from the living room, as it was rather romper-roomesque to begin with. That beige/gold arm chair you see in the corner, piled high with books, stays. We are inheriting a white crib and two white bookcases from hubbie's generous cousins. But colorwise, we could really do anything!

Oh, and my lovely handmade kite I named Paprika. I'd like her to stay, too.

Anyways, what do you think we should do?! I've got some ideas of my own, which I'll share as we go along,  but I'd love to know what you all would do. Ideas? Let your imagination run wild- a kid's room is where you can really go crazy.