Good luck with the renovation, Shaw.
As members of The Greatest Generation, my parents came of age stopping everything they were doing when the news came on. In the New York City metropolitan area, it consisted of Carol Reed doing the weather on WCBS, followed by John Cameron Swayze doing 15 minutes worth of news (sponsored by the Timex Watch Co. “It takes a licking but keeps on ticking”.) By the time the national programs expanded to a half-hour, we were already primed to eat and listen to the news together every night. IMHO, watching Jeopardy together was the second single biggest tv watching innovation to occur in my lifetime.
We always eat at the table (breakfast/lunch/dinner). Same when our kids were home. Always had family meals at the table (every day). Was part of our daily check in.
When kid’s friends used to come over, if they took their plate and started walking around or going into another room (especially little kids), they would tell them - “we eat at the table”.
Was kind of a foreign idea to many. We really enjoyed that.
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Hey, I haven’t quite reached the stage where I can balance anything on my stomach. Give me a few years!
We eat breakfast on stools at the kitchen island. Lunch only H eats- at the kitchen island.
Dinner in the very close dining room with an incredible view of nature. We have tried many times to eat outside on the deck but there are just too many bugs of various kinds that instantly show up when food is out.
We designed the house to use the dining room for multiuses. I am using a laptop right now at the table. It’s great for a sewing machine, sorting papers, eating dinner, art work, etc. Always kept clean and neat.
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If I cook, we eat at breakfast room table in our kitchen. Other times/meals it usually in front of tv or on porch but usually at different times. Do use kitchen table for lunch for meals that can be messier or when I want to read while I eat. I cook maybe 3 times a week. Challenge is that H won’t eat leftovers. I’m fine with same thing all week long.
@MaineLonghorn That was my parents also! The kitchen and den tv were always on, usually multiple tvs on with no one in that room; they didn’t want to miss something when walking between room 
. I followed that same pattern for years; I now prefer no tv on unless I am actively watching.
We downsized to a townhome 5 years ago, so no more formal dining room. My husband loves our dining room table which we inherited when my parents downsized, so that is in our current eating area. I had to get different chairs my parent’s chairs where way to heavy for the space. We eat at this table if we are both home for dinner, usually with the evening news on; husband has a small tv on his desk that we can see. I usually have my laptop next to me catching up on CC and personal email. If my husband is working late or traveling, you will find me eating on the den sofa watching tv!
Breakfast and lunch for both are at the counter, if home. Rarely are we home or eating at the same time for these meals.
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I strongly dislike sitting on stools and we do not own a stool so no island nor counter eating for us.
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Our barstools, with padded backs, are actually more comfortable that my dining chairs. I looked for a good while until I found ones I liked.
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Wrong thread
Same here. We have very comfortable counter height chairs around our island. This is where we eat all the time. DH and I sit at the two corner chairs so we can face each other.
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We have these at our kitchen island. They are awesome. Had then for 3 years.
But the current price!! 
whoa inflation.
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Now that’s an island! Beautiful!! Like going to an hibachi grill.
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Here’s my little joke…but not a joke
Me: What’s the best part of being an empty nester? Ask me what I’m having for dinner tonight.
Friend : What are you having ?
Me: I have no idea.
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Growing up the family lined up at chairs along a kitchen counter. Dining room was for special occasions only
In my home we have a tall kitchen counter with stools but I don’t sit there to eat. It’s overflow when I have large gatherings. I don’t eat a proper meal very often, but that’s a whole other problem. But when I eat alone, or with family or guests, it’s always at the dining table. the dining table is in the living room along a bank of floor to ceiling windows with a view. I got rid of formal closed dining room when we moved into the house 25 yrs ago. Have never eaten with TV on but I have a new bad habit of looking at my iPad while eating alone.
Switched to pub-height everything years ago, including the dining room table and chairs. Makes it much easier for rapidly aging family members to get up and down without making that groaning sound everyone adopts whether they are conscious of it or not. 
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We have STIG stools from Ikea. We looked at more expensive things, but these are actually very comfortable and the price ($15.99 then, $19.99 now) can’t be beat! We’ve had them for eight years and they look brand new.
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I bought my stool from Lowes for $5 when they had a clearance sale a long time ago, but now they are outside in my California room as for hair cutting. My husband sits on that chair. No stools in our center island.
We eat dinner nightly at the table. We have a kitchen table that we have had since we got married. It’s the table we ate at as a family when the kids were growing up. We have a dining table in our informal dining space but we just use that when we are over 6 people. Last night we ate out on the patio dining table since it was hot. We also have an island with counter height stools that my husband would eat at if I wanted. I’m odd in that I hate bar and counter height stools.
We eat dinner together, lunch together on the weekends. In summer that is usually at a fire pit table near our pool. Breakfast we don’t eat together unless I’ve made someone out of the ordinary.
I grew up having dinner together and food only in the kitchen. Two of my kids eat dinner at the table with their partners. The other has evening commitments that sometimes makes them not eat together. I do know they eat at the table.
Once the kids grew up my Mom and stepdad started eating at the coffee table with the TV on. My Mom would have the TV on from morning to night. Drove me crazy. Sometimes I would turn it off when I arrived telling her I just drove two hours to see you. It’s made me the opposite where I rarely have a TV on.