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In our 1800 square foot house, the living room takes up about 1/3 of the ground floor. We entertain about once or twice a year. A guest has slept on the couch about six times a year. Why have a living room rather than expanded den/entertainment center?
Right. I also think that the most wasted, unused space is a formal dining room. Unless someone is "entertaining" a lot, I would never keep it for that purpose.
And this is why I love my open floor plan. I'm also in about 1800 sq ft and my first floor is all open. There is a section that the model home per the attached floor plan that had walled off with french doors that a lot of people use as a home office or a den. But I had them not put up the wall or doors, so that area is my dining area with a table that can seat a dozen when I put the leaves in.
And then the area labeled the Great Room on the plan is all living room space instead of having to be shared between a living and dining area.
We actually spend a lot of time in the dining room, admittedly on our computers! But it's nice to be sitting at the table with my son, and being able to chat or share funny memes, etc. We also have a small loft upstairs, and he uses that area as well, when he wants some space from me, so that works well too, we aren't always on top of each other just because it's an open floor plan.
Our house has two living areas. I only refer to one as the living room and one as the den when I have to name things (like Echo dots). They are both used for watching tv. My DH uses the front one and I use the rear one. Fairly open floor plan, so from my seat on the couch, I can see his TV. You can hear both TVs but get used to tuning one out. If we both want to watch the same thing, we use the front living room just because it has two recliners that are more comfortable.
Sounds like my parents. My dad has always had a den. His extensive library and record collection is in there, as well as items he has picked up over the years, awards items of interest. He has his desk, computer, and his TV in there. He prefers to sit in there and watch TV.
My mom is always watching TV in the living room. That has a big screen in that room. When they want to watch something together my dad will go into the living room.
In our 1800 square foot house, the living room takes up about 1/3 of the ground floor. We entertain about once or twice a year. A guest has slept on the couch about six times a year. Why have a living room rather than expanded den/entertainment center?
My last house (1600 sf) had both a formal living room and a den. For a while I didn't have any use for the formal living room. The prior owners had used it as a formal dining room, but I don't entertain.
Eventually I had a bright idea and turned it into a home gym. That was a perfect use of that space, for me.
I would not have wanted an expanded den, since the den was already big enough that I didn't need any more den space.
I guess my point is that (as I'm sure you realize!) you don't HAVE to use it as a formal living room. If you regard it as a bonus room, then you can use it for whatever you want. After all, it's your house.
Along these lines, a few years ago I moved from that house, which was a 3 bedroom house, to a 2 bedroom house and had to eliminate my guest bedroom. Almost nobody ever slept in it anyway! It was a big waste of space, so I don't miss it one bit. Guess I didn't need a guest bedroom for my lifestyle, any more than I needed a formal living room. Lately I have become a big fan of the term "bonus room" because it implies a lot of flexibility.
Right. I also think that the most wasted, unused space is a formal dining room. Unless someone is "entertaining" a lot, I would never keep it for that purpose.
We have a “dining area” adjacent to our kitchen with a counter between. We use the counter daily for meals, but we use our dining area surprisingly often. I suppose if we had a kitchen table + chairs we would tend to use that more. But since we don’t, we use our dining room any time we have more than 4 eating a meal. I do think that separated dining rooms are probably wasted as such, but usefulness depends on individual design.
I think newer homes have evolved away from parlor like living rooms, and segregated dining rooms, because people’s lifestyles and values have changed. If someone has a barely used room, I think the owner should find the best way to use it for their family. The room is a resource; it should not be wasted, IMO.
I think much of the problem comes from having a kitchen with a family eating room and a family room, and then having a formal dining room and formal living room. Many houses were and are designed with these extra rooms because once upon a time upper middle class and such actually did formal entertaining in those spaces. They were kept clean, neat, and organized for guests while the clutter from daily family living was done in the family room and kitchen.
One home we lived in and my the home my wife grew up in, as well as her grandmother's house were all built in the 60s when this trend was in full swing. Many of my childhood friend's home as well. A common theme was kids were not allowed in the living/dining room and the rooms were only used for entertaining.
To me, in today's society, I find the rooms a waste, not just in terms of the space they occupy, but in the expensive furniture required to furnish them. Right alongside the waste of women registering for good china and silver that will only be used to entertain guests on special occasions in the seldom used formal dining room with it's seldom used expensive furniture.
When you think about the cost to build that space, furnish that space, and equip that space, you could save a $100K over the life of a mortgage and get better use of the house by better design.
There's no law on decorating. No decorating or sleeping area or whatever police. It seems like such beliefs and fears are among things limiting your ideas on how to use an space. Bedrooms can be regulated to be a certain size, certain number in certain sq footage. But no one says you have to use them only to sleep or leave them empty.
You can furnish your living room any way you want. Over time we have put our large bed and dressers in a living room that had walls and was not wide open. Provided a nice size bedroom at that time.
Growing up we had a large kitchen. Easier with kids to eat in the spacious kitchen. There was a very large room originally used as the dining room, that became the living room. And large room originally used as some sort of grand living room where my parents put up french doors, curtains and made a beautiful bedroom. Over time, the large room became a bedroom for my elderly grandfather. Eventually, that large room went back to being a lovely dining room off that kitchen. Some of the french doors were taken off the grand bedroom and that went back to being a grand living room.
We have switched typical room usage because one had better lighting for plants and the other had less lighting to better protect our books.
Our living room now has good seating but also holds collections and lots of books on shelves. We don't have opportunity for many children running around now. But that will cycle back and we will change things out again. And perhaps move again to another set of re-arrangeable rooms.
I think much of the problem comes from having a kitchen with a family eating room and a family room, and then having a formal dining room and formal
To me, in today's society, I find the rooms a waste, not just in terms of the space they occupy, but in the expensive furniture required to furnish them. Right alongside the waste of women registering for good china and silver that will only be used to entertain guests on special occasions in the seldom used formal dining room with it's seldom used expensive furniture.
When you think about the cost to build that space, furnish that space, and equip that space, you could save a $100K over the life of a mortgage and get better use of the house by better design.
That is my thought process by which I start this thread.
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