I converted our living room to our sewing room. My DH & I are just like you. We never used the LR, we always use the family room so with both of us quilting it just made sense to use the biggest room in the house. I suppose if we were ever to sell the house we would have to convert it back to a LR for showing purposes but we have no intention of selling. We figured it was our house and we would live in it in a way that was most convienent for us. The only thing that I do try to do is keep it organized because it is the first thing you see when you come into the house. When I used our spare bedroom I wasn't quite so neat. I say go for it!