We used to just use the dining room for holidays and company. But taking a cue from our first house, we picked a floor plan where dining room is connected to living room (which has vaulted ceiling)…. nice big open feeling when you walk in the front door, and space to extend the table for a really big crowd.
Since retirement, we’ve been eating in the dining room most nights. It’s just as handy to the fridge and stove/microwave as the kitchen table. We’ve gotten to like it.
When we downsize someday, we may not be able to have a dining room. That will be tough because the furniture is a special family set. My maternal grandmother picked it out in 1920s as wedding present from my grandfather’s father when she was working at a high end furniture store. Then around the time I was born they moved to a bungalow and gifted the set to my father’s parents … I had many a holiday dinner around that table before it went to my mother and then me. My hope is that I’d be at least able to keep the small server piece, which currently is by the front door.
The room where our DR table sits was originally the living room in this house and was the space I wanted to make into a large library. I tried to convince DH (even with pictures) that it is perfectly acceptable to use a library as a dining room when needed and that we could buy a long, narrow console table that could fit compactly along one wall and open into a full-size dining table on the few occasions we’d need it, but he was having none of it.
When we bought the cabin, he still insisted we need a DR table even though the kitchen island is sufficient for the (at most) four people we’d ever be feeding, and the porch is large enough for outdoor dining for a larger group. I gave in and ordered this console table to satisfy him, but moving away from the idea of dedicated dining space is a tough sell in this house.
My parents had a nice drop leaf table from Pennsylvania House. We lived in a 900 sq foot house (plus basement), so no dining room. The drop leaf table enabled them to turn one end of the long living room into a dining room at the holidays. There were 2 matching captain chairs in corners, and we also had kitchen chairs and folding chairs.
Oooh, such a HAPPY holiday memory bubbles up. We had some old, heavy folding perforated metal chair that only came out when when grandparents were coming to town. I can recall seeing them brought up from the basement and thinking HOORAY!
@ChoatieMom, in our last house, we used our DR every night. In pre-pandemic times (we moved just before the Pandemic), we entertained a lot but we didn’t set the house to have anyplace else to eat.
The living room was the room that was rarely used as there was a large family room three steps down from the kitchen.
In our new house, once the renovations are done, we expect to use the DR daily. It will have glass on all four sides. One side looks at the river, another side the horses at the horse farm next door, the third side looks at a little patio with an outdoor dining setup, and the last side will have an accordioning glass door (the room is at the end of the kitchen and the room opens onto the LR.) The LR will be a very nice space – double height ceiling for half of it and big windows onto the river. There is another sitting room and a third room we are calling the grandkids room, though it may house plants until grandkids arrive. But, neither is convenient to the kitchen.
I really like my DR table and would happily pass it on to my son, now that he has a house. Bloomies, oak, and 2 leaves that pull out, then you push back. Most often, I just pull out one side. 6 matching chairs, with cane seats. Cushions were made in a beige fabric, with texture, and slight blue. I am describing it correctly, but it was Mary Tyler Moore’s fabric. It is also on my LR chairs. Even with 4 guests, we’d sit there.
Right now, holiday cards and wrapping on the table. It’s my go-to place for photo or paper organizing.
strong textWe don’t have a whole lot of extra space in our house. The room with our dining room table is used a lot—nearly every meal. It’s not particularly formal and has bookshelves along one side.
There’s a room with a couch and coffee table and a room with my computer and sewing machine. The washer/dryer are conveniently in the kitchen against a wall. The rest of the house is 3 bedrooms, a hallway and 2 bathrooms. Our entire house would likely fit in soe of my relatives’ great rooms. It emphasized textworks perfectly for us.mmeemphasized text
That’s what I’d like in our new house. Most of the time, a small table is fine but we’ve had dinners for 10 (and more) before and would like the option to do so again some day. H thinks that will never happen and got sticker shock when I showed him some US-made walnut tables online.
Both of our tables are granite top. No extensions, obviously. Easy to keep clean and look great in photos. Moving them from House1 to House2 was quite an adventure!!
I downsized to a less than 900 square foot house. Plus basement, enclosed porch and attic, so it is sufficient for me plus guests. But I have a larger LR that is open to the DR, and that DR is the main eating space in the house. I keep my antique oak table small, but can expand to have Thanksgiving and other meals with 10 or so on occasion. I also like having a place to spread out for projects and sometimes clutter. Right now it is a jumble of wrapping paper and gifts.
We rarely use the dining room for eating, just for holidays. I love my dining room set. We bought it 15 years ago when DH worked for a furniture manufacturer; we could get really good deals after the High Point furniture market closed each year. It’s dark walnut with navy blue velvet chairs; I love them as much as the day we bought them. I do sit in the DR every day; we have large bay windows that look out on the lake, so I put 2 comfy swivel chairs in there. I sit and drink my coffee there in the mornings; it’s right over the Lantana, so I watch all the butterflies and humming birds. It’s my happy place in this house, even if
we don’t eat there.
We use our DR about 6 times a year. The set is nice, but no one will want it when we are done with it. I’d love for my next place to have a larger breakfast room area, although the one we have easily can accommodate our table with two leaves in it.
The living room is my favorite room. It’s not cluttered at all. The furniture is comfortable, and it’s where the piano is so I can practice if I feel like it. I sit in here every single day.
That being said…I doubt we will have a living room or dining room in our next house.
We’ve never head an eat-in kitchen, so yeah, DR table gets a lot of use! Even the house we upsized to (second and eventual only in retirement) has a bigger kitchen than our tiny galley one we brought the kids up with, but still, the DR is a separate space that opens up to it. So, only one eat-at table. I like the idea that all the space is used. We could put a very small table at one end of kitchen, but it would be in front of sliding doors to outside and break up the travel flow overall.
The most user-friendly thing about this house is two bedrooms on the first floor, and a full bath. So we could always move downstairs if we need to when we’re older. The upstairs is just our room, attached bath, and a fourth bedroom/my office. I’d miss being separate from the activity level of visitors, but if we need to, we can move.
We have a range of square footage in mind. But for me, sometimes it depends on how that square footage is arranged. A 1500 sq ft in a certain layout can work better than a 2000 sq ft one in a different layout.
Another square footage consideration is climate / availability of outdoor space. In theory, if you spend a lot of time outside and on the back deck, smaller space can be more tolerable. (It’s only a theory for me at this point. We still do like having outdoor perks and a lot of space.)
I agree with @Colorado_mom about outdoor space. Our home is small, but we have a nice outdoor space that we use year round since we are near the beach in Southern California.
I enjoy outside space SO much but also Ohio in the winter….that said, really good outdoor living area is almost as important to me as good indoor space.
Re: dining room. Not on my list of “needs” for my next home. We have one now - it’s not huge and I’d give it up in a heartbeat for better seating, bigger kitchen.
The way I see it (and am currently LIVING with it) the dining room has just become a work space for H. We have an old library table in the DR and he uses that for his laptop (NEVER uses it as a laptop!) and so the dining room becomes a clutter zone for whatever he is working on. Which is super annoying when there are other places he could work AND of course, walking through the dining room is a route for getting to some of our other main living areas. I cringe often.
I realized that if my husband continues working in any form, an office with the doors that can be shut closed is a must. Keeps the paperwork mess out of sight when the visitors come! Also lets me keep the rest of the house Ina relatively minimalistic shape.
Are we married to the same man? I could have typed this word for word! To make matters worse, what started out as a temporary WAH thing, it has now become permanent. We even have a desk in D’s room and I suggested turning it into an office (she graduated college in May and lives/works across the country). Nope. He will use that space if there is something noisy going on downstairs. Our dining room is completely open to the front door so the clutter is first thing anyone sees.
I do actually like having a separate dining room. Our next house, I think I would prefer having a small eating space in the kitchen (perhaps an island or small nook) but want our actual dining table in a separate space, like much older homes have. Right now we have a 6’ table in an eating area off to the side of our kitchen in addition to the formal dining table in an adjacent room. No need for both. And I guess I’m an oddball but I no longer like having my kitchen open to our family room - it’s too noisy for anyone watching tv, reading, etc.
Lol, my H is “retired” but has a side business from home. I still work. I think honestly he is used to taking over the main areas of the house when I’m at work and sort of doesn’t have room (or consideration) for me when I’m back home! He has a giant antique oak roll top desk (I’d also LOVE to get rid of that!) in the finished basement that would be perfect to use along with easy access to his work “supplies” - but NOPE, gotta spread the stuff around the whole house!!!
I too am a fan of a separate kitchen not open to the main living areas. We have a 1925 house and I appreciate this feature. Sometimes though, everyone seems to congregate in the kitchen - one or two people, ok, ….everyone? NO.
Moving them from House1 to House2 was quite an adventure!!