Wednesday, July 01, 2015

What We Do with Our Dining Rooms


I read an interesting article the other day that wondered whether it's time to get rid of the formal dining room as a separate part of our homes ...


Although everybody needs to eat, it seems that very few people use their dining rooms any more, at least not for dining ... the article says that 75% of the homeowners surveyed said that they don't usually eat their meals in their formal dining rooms; instead, 42% said that they dine in their eat-in kitchens, while 34% said they eat in their family room or in front of the television (which is usually in the family room or living room).

So why do we still build houses with formal dining rooms, and what do we use those formal dining rooms for, if not for dining?

I don't know about you, but in our house, we actually do eat in the formal dining room two or three times a year ... usually at Thanksgiving and Christmas or we have enough guests that they won't fit into the kitchen. The rest of the time we use the dining room table and chairs for storing pots and pans, the cushions for the deck furniture, and other things we don't have room to store anywhere else. We also store extra dust underneath the table.

What else do people use their dining rooms for? According to the article, they're being repurposed as work spaces or sitting rooms, or the walls are removed to make larger open spaces by combining the dining room space with the kitchen or living room. I think there are other potential uses for the dining room as well ...

1. Rent it out to Starbucks ... they're always looking for new locations.

2. Let the local politicians know that the highest bidder can tack it on to his (or her) wildly-gerrymandered district.

3. Add multiple layers of soundproofing and turn it into your own "50 Shades of Grey" playroom.

4. Gain extra tax advantage from the space by telling the IRS it's the conference room that goes with your home office.

5. Use that nice, big table for ... well ... use your imagination.

Other ideas? Leave a comment.

Have a good day. Enjoy your dinner, wherever you eat it. Come back tomorrow, when we'll name our Right Cheek Ass Clown for July*.

Bilbo

* The suspense is killing you, isn't it?

7 comments:

Bilbo said...

Oops - today is Wednesday ... I thought it was Thursday. The Right Cheek Ass Clown will be announced on Friday. My bad.

Duckbutt said...

We don't use ours much. We eat in the 'breakfast room' because it's so much more inviting.

eViL pOp TaRt said...

Home usage changes along with the nature of the families. Often families are smaller, dine more informally, and out of necessity have families eat at different times due to their schedules, work, etc. It's like some of the old-fashioned uptown homes have a parlor: a formal receiving room for when the preacher or some big shot comes, like the President or other, or if there's some formal occasion.

Often I would eat my cereal alone, with a coffee of chicory coffee.

Margaret (Peggy or Peg too) said...

We do a great many puzzles on our dining table, we play games on our table and all of those things add up to more time than we eat there.
We eat there with company or a holiday. I find the way these colonials in this area are built to be so archaic to how we live today. I like open. Who needs a living room? Seriously no one lives like that anymore. (or a "parlor"_ When looking for a new house if I find one without a darn living room I am thrilled! And I did just find one - now if you can just lend me $1, 084,000?
That's all I need Bilbo. Chump change! We'll invite you over...dinner at our dining room table. :-)

bakku-shan said...

I do enjoy the ass clown awards and your trenchant comments.

allenwoodhaven said...

We use our dining room table as a desk and a place to leave the cell phones, wallets and such. It's also a good place for items in transit (i.e. going elsewhere soon). On the rare occasions we have enough guests, it's used for meals.

Mike said...

It's a pain clearing off the dining room table to use it for eating.