I think Dining Rooms are far from being back in style. When push comes to shove, very few people use their dining room and many who are looking for a home in Columbus hate the idea of all that wasted space.
Buyers want a place to eat together, but formal dining rooms are coming in waay down the list of importance for buyers--especially younger buyers in Columbus.

A 4 bedroom home, though, should have a dining room and not an office where you said yours is located. I'd stick with installing an office in a spare bedroom or a make-shift basement office where you can relax and spread out.

My advice is to use the space how you like during your ownership, however keep in mind that when you sell you will need to convert the room back to a dining room. Buyers will expect to see a dining room and some will not consider your home without one. Can you convert one of the 4 bedrooms to an office??

You will affect the marketability of your home if you permanently remove the dining room. We have Buyers who refuse to look at homes without a dining room. They are back in style. I am located in the Greater Cleveland OH area; however, I am familiar with the Columbus Market through multple relatives who keep up-to-date with the housing market, as each plans to move in 2 to 3 years.

As has been dicussed, make a modification that preserves the dining room. Instead of a wall, do a partial wall with double french doors that keep the space upen. You can remove the chandier if necessary, but keep it to put back when you are ready to list, so Buyer's will look at the room as a dining room or an office.

I would say create a temp solution and maybe put of the french doors as stated in the previous comments. A lot of new construction also use the french doors. That way you give oterhs options in the future.


Good luck

I agree with the others - use the room as your office but don't put up a permanent wall. Figure out something that will allow for noise reduction and privacy from the rest of the house while you work there.

French doors might be a nice solution. I've seen dining rooms with these and if done correctly they look very sharp. Sliding doors would always look tacky as an interior door.

Sureynot,

You may not impact the value of the home but you may influence the saleability of the home since many are seek homes with a formal dining room.

Our recommendation is to consider making adjustments that render a dual purpose area...one that could serve as either an office or a dining room. A "double door" entry may provide the privacy you are seeking for your office space and allow future owners to easily convert it back to a dining area.

Good luck
The Eckler Team

Here in NY I would say closing it off as an office would reduce the home's value. Dining rooms are more popular now than ever. Can you make the changes in a temporary way so that you can convert it back when you are ready?