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bronwynsmom_gw

Seven deadly sins of dated decorating

bronwynsmom
11 years ago

According to the Washington Post today...

So what do we think?

(You may have to sign in to the Post to get this to open...one of you is surely tech savvy enough to make it accessible if I'm not?)

Here is a link that might be useful: Seven sins/dated decorating

Comments (142)

  • runninginplace
    11 years ago

    Have the say the silliest phrase I ever heard, I heard here. Someone used to refer to her VERY modest master bedroom that had a little bathroom attached as her master suite-let. OMG, kill me now.

    And we have a foyer, that we pronounce foy-er, not foy-ay. There isn't a room in the house that's all that great however...

    Ann

  • runninginplace
    11 years ago

    Have the say the silliest phrase I ever heard, I heard here. Someone used to refer to her VERY modest master bedroom with (also small) bathroom attached as her master suite-let. OMG, kill me now. Actually, although I don't hear real people in my area say this, sometimes on the HGTV shows they refer to that layout as an en suite bedroom. Is that common usage somewhere?

    And we have a foyer, that we pronounce foy-er, not foy-ay.

    There isn't a room in the house that's all that great however...

    Ann

  • martinca_gw sunset zone 24
    11 years ago

    Growing up on the southeastern seaboard, "foy-yay" was any sized entryway, and to my ears"entryway" sounds pretentious! Funny. Some said Hall, I think. Vestibule was for apartments or office buildings. rHow about sofa vs. couch ? Ok, I've strayed too far..sorry. I've not read all here, and wonder if the 'familiarity breeds fondness' was brought up; as in seeing the RH , Linen neutral , Seagrass, etc. all over the decor world is what draws us to it....eventually, perhaps, after a long visual brainwashing.
    Oh, silly me, of course...that's a given....and it's fine. Evolving style trends prevents staleness. We take from it what we like while maintaining our own style...or that's how I see/ use it.
    Example: I have rejected glitter on textiles: a middle eastern influence, I suppose, but love the glistening shell and crystal necklace hung over the sconces in my new bath?( I took one off and wore it today,)

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago

    Funny, you'll find a number of references in turn-of-the-last century literature to calling a small hall a vestibule as an example of the aspirations of the lower middle class (the implication being that if you are one of those in the in group you know it's a plain old hall). Times change. :)

  • palimpsest
    11 years ago

    I hear ensuite used a lot on the HGTV shows originating in Canada, so I was assuming regional.

    It's interesting that as times change and familiarity with words changes that how common, how acceptable, or how pretentious they are considered will change.

    Emily Post, in her earlier books, discussed language, conversation, and some pronunciation (she was also a supporter of never calling anyone else's house a "home" but a house--we've had this discussion).

    One of the words that she mentioned was "valet". She felt it was pretentious to pronounce it in the French manner, "VALlay" but rather that it Should be pronounced VAL-it ( like Mallet, with the schwa sound that is somewhere between "it, et and ut"), and VAL-it is the primary pronunciation in many dictionaries.

    But now, because of Valet parking, which everyone pronounces VALlay or ValLAY (ballet), if you said VAL-it, people would think you were ignorant.

    So she would support FOYer, but I would imagine in places with lots of Francophones, FOYay would be more correct.

  • writersblock (9b/10a)
    11 years ago

    >I hear ensuite used a lot on the HGTV shows originating in Canada, so I was assuming regional.

    I always just assumed it was British, like Val-it. When I was a student in London many years ago, we managed to persuade one of my new American roommates that the English say "an-ti-cue". After all the other anglicized pronunciations she totally believed us, at least for a few days. :)

  • marcolo
    11 years ago

    Oddly, now it's VAL-it that sounds pretentious in the British manner.

    And in my house we sat on the Davenport.

    Great rooms are just oversized corner pantries. In both cases developers came up with a new idea to cut their own costs. In the great room, by eliminating footprint and walls, and in the pantry, by eliminating more expensive corner cabinets. Their technique is always to present their cost-cutting measures as a desirable new feature, and home shoppers always seem to swallow the line quite readily.

  • patty_cakes
    11 years ago

    And while we're on the subject of 'word play', would someone please enlighten me as to who/when "space* was coined as the new meaning for room? Every time I hear it I can' help but cringe~it's so overused, and in my opinion, deems the rooms in our homes no different than a public space, such as a waiting room. ;o)

  • patty_cakes
    11 years ago

    And while we're on the subject of 'word play', would someone please enlighten me as to who/when "space* was coined as the new meaning for room? Every time I hear it I can' help but cringe~it's so overused, and in my opinion, deems the rooms in our homes no different than a public space, such as a waiting room. ;o)

  • kswl2
    11 years ago

    The only appellation I really loathe is "owner's suite." Sounds just like a skybox at a sporting event, doesnt it?

  • kswl2
    11 years ago

    I need to actually read all the replies before I post, lots of people had already explained the etiology of the term great room.

    In my experience, the hierarchy of ingress to a building:

    Entry: Small area just inside door, defined by different flooring than that in the rest of the room (usually tile or wood where the rest is carpet), often further delineated by a half wall or planter.

    Foyer: larger area that in a 2 story house often includes the ground floor termination of a staircase, usually including a piece of furniture on which to place mail or keys or packages, delineated by walls of adjacent LR and/or DR, stair, etc.

    Lobby: very large, open area that runs horizontally much of the length of the front room, or rooms , of the house--- also called a gallery (which in our area was full of windows almost like an enclosed veranda.

    All entries are further defined by an overhead light that is placed in the center of the defined area.

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Vestibule is defined as "a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of the building or house." So, I can't claim that one. My sis's new house has exactly that configuration and it's So cute! Looking past the front door to a striking river view doesn't hurt matters either.

    No, I just have an "entry" I'm afraid. I've decided this is one of the worst things about my house. You know what they say about first impressions...you can't make another one. I'm doing my best to make the "space" more interesting.

    Pattycakes, I hear ya about the over use of the word "space!" (See last sentence above!) I also like your list, btw! It's a very, very good list, imo!

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    11 years ago

    Marcolo: Great rooms are just oversized corner pantries.

    I disagree.

    For those who are interested in going green, one of the first things you do is build small....fewer materials going in, less to heat and cool and furnish and maintain, smaller footprint, less impact on the environment. And with the housing market flat on its back and the majority of peoples' incomes stagnating at best, the appeal of the mcmansion is on the wane, especially as taxes and fuel costs continue to rise. But people don't want to feel "small" in a smaller house. So it is using design principles like adding visual breaks without walls and eliminating hallways (like Susanka's not so big house) that allow one to maximize square footage use. A great room...whatever it's contents, is a big part of that design.

    We used those principles in designing our new home. The design of the great room is what drove the design of the house. Our great room is about 18 x 26 and in that space I have a family room with TV and wood stove, a breakfast nook, a kitchen with an island, bar area and desk area. I have seating for 18 people should I need it. Yet it is a pleasant and cozy space to be in. It is where DH and I spend 90% of our waking hours. This space is incredibly functional and efficient, and certainly not a replacement for a corner pantry.

  • lakeaffect
    11 years ago

    I like "owner's suite" or "owner's room" much better than "master bedroom", that term has always made me uncomfortable, it's so exclusively masculine (and I am a full on feminist).

    Interesting all the takes on foyer, a term never used in my house growing up, we said "front hall", now we say "entry" cuz we live on the water, and the water side is the front. Also, in NNE we called the area right outside of the entrance the "dooryard" a term that I think is pretty much relegated to the history books.

    sandyponder

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Yes, Sandy, and "Mistress Bedroom" just doesn't cut it for a feminist alternative, does it? I just refer to it as "the big bedroom." Since our cat owns the house, I'm sure she'd be delighted with either "owner's suite" or "owner's room!" She indeed loves lounging in there. "Queen's suite" would also be acceptable, no doubt.

  • bronwynsmom
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    How about a new thread for house words?

    I'll start, troublemaker that I am....

  • Fun2BHere
    11 years ago

    Sandyponder and Stinky-gardener, I've picked up the habit of calling it the primary bedroom. That's how it's often named in resort condos and I like the gender neutral sound of it. All other bedrooms are secondary bedrooms rather than guest rooms.

  • Bumblebeez SC Zone 7
    11 years ago

    I love the concept of great rooms regardless of the initial motive. They allow the cook to mingle with the rest of the family and make smaller homes open and airy and most of all, make good use of floor space eliminating redundancy.

  • palimpsest
    11 years ago

    I like the idea of flex space rather than undifferentiated open space. But large pocket doors, sliding walls and the like are difficult to plan and difficult to build so they work properly.

    I think Sarah Susanka has the right idea when it comes to combining but also differentiating spaces from each other.

    But the "great room" applied to a room the size of a regular smallish family room but tarted up with a vaulted or double height ceiling so it has the general proportions of a toaster slot is not the right way to do it, imo.

  • kswl2
    11 years ago

    I thought the big family room / kitchen thing was just an "open concept" floor plan. A great room (in my experience) is a large living room / dining room with several activity areas (eating, tv watching, conversation, bookcases, etc) and the kitchen in this configuration is entirely separate.

    I use the term front entry because our entrance area is fairly large but undefined by walls. We have a side entrance with a nice door, brick walkway and circular awning that does have a hall that leads to the library. It must look more "foyer" than the front because we often find packages there :-)

  • bronwynsmom
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I'm with you, Palimpsest - when I imagine my dream house, it has a high, wide, long open room with the car entrance and the pantries and utility spaces in one end. That's followed by the kitchen, with a big island facing the rest of the room. Just beyond that, thick walls full of storage that only come five or so feet into the room from either side, leading into a dining room, followed by a living room separated in the same way with storage walls.

    In fact, I want thick walls with storage in them everywhere, lots of open space, and big high windows with deep sills.

    I calm down now...

  • marcolo
    11 years ago

    "Great rooms" had zero to do with Susan Susanka in their inception. They started exactly the way I said--a way for builders to cheap out. New production homes certainly are not noted for compact layouts, lavish trimwork or complex vistas to create the illusion of space as Susanka recommends. They're noted for garish, energy-hogging ceiling heights in the "foyers" and great rooms, and corners cut on trim and room divisions.

    I like the toaster analogy. I always described them as sitting in the bottom of a milk carton.

  • bronwynsmom
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Marcolo, you are so right about how much bad design there is in open plans. We've all walked into big expensive houses and wondered where the bank teller window was, or how to get to the train platform, or when Quasimodo was going to appear to ring the bells!

    The careful carving out of rooms, paying close attention to proportion, ratios of dimension, including hints at the divisions between functional areas where walls are opened or barely there, and the sculpting of space with light by the placement, dimensions, and orientation of windows is an art form that is not well understood.

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Bronwynsmom, would you be so kind as to show us what the poorly designed floor plan looks like and what a well-designed one looks like, based on the elements you mentioned? (That is, if you have pics readily available that demonstrate poor layout vs. good one!)

    Thanks!

    Another question: I know someone who will start a new build in the Fall. She is still in the tweaking stages of the design process with her architect. What would you suggest a friend avoid and what would you suggest is important to pursue? I know, I know...big questions. A couple of ideas you feel strongly about for pros/cons would be very appreciated. Thanks again!

  • bronwynsmom
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Golly.
    I'll have to think about that.

    The question about floor plans is difficult to answer in this context, because it's really a matter of three dimensional space. The volumes are as important as the length and width and arrangements of rooms in a large open plan.

    A good plan satisfies a host of requirements, some of them true for every house, some of them site-specific, and some of them intensely personal.

    So let me think about it, and perhaps recommend some thoughts and resources. It may take a little time to assemble things to show you, and I'm a bit busy at present, so please bear with me.

    Meanwhile, there are others here who are wise about these things.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    11 years ago

    Marcolo, Listerine was an antiseptic horse rub at its inception but that doesn't mean it isn't successfully used as a mouthwash now. I didn't say that Susanka had anything to do with the inception of the "great room" concept, but that they are often used, and very successfully, as part of her home designs.

    Granted, I have been in many awful spaces, though I'd hardly call them great rooms...one family room like an elevator shaft....one 3 story high family room with a one story kitchen off to one side so it felt like an armpit sticks in my mind in particular. Many spaces that felt public rather than private, and certainly not homey.

    So while 'great rooms' can be awful, they can also be wonderful. So my only point is don't dismiss all of them as "corner pantries."

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Thanks, Bronwynsmom. I realize I asked grandiose questions. I do appreciate whatever time and effort you can devote to answering. You and Marcolo really intrigued me with your last couple of posts. I know y'all touched on some key principles, but I can't fully grasp the concepts y'all are speaking about. (I know they are important though!)

  • palimpsest
    11 years ago

    The original great room in terms of a combined-purpose room was probably the finished basement. Most people I know who had a finished basement kept it as one big room that had a seating area, a game/cards/eating table, and a bar, often with kitchenette.

    I don't know that the original concept had origins in being cheap. The first couple I saw were actually pretty large rooms in largish houses, and were not completely open to the kitchen. I think the application of "great room" to any living area open to the kitchen is kind of a cheat though, (and pretentious as a result).

    Again I will bring up Susanka, not in comparison, but in contrast, because while she uses certain features to make small spaces flow together and to create long vistas, she would never aggrandize a 10x12 room by popping up a ceiling and calling it a "great room."

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    11 years ago

    OK, then you are talking about something different than I. Most likely I'm wrong.

    I think of a great room as a multi-function space without walls. If it was a single function space, even with a vaulted ceiling, it would still be that space. So in the case of the family room I saw that was like an elevator shaft (the room was probably only 18x20 and the ceiling was 2 1/2 stories high with a fireplace clad in gray stone that went up to the ceiling no less!) was a family room. I thought great rooms were called that because they were greater than the single function of say a dining room or a family room.

    But it sounds like you and Marcolo are talking about any family room space with a vaulted ceiling as a great room. Is that right? If that is the case then we need a new term for my room as it has no vaulted ceiling but it does have the family room, breakfast nook and kitchen all in one space with visual cues to make the spaces feel separate without walls....a la susanka. (I certainly never called it a great room to be pretentious...only because that's what I thought it was.)

    We used to call the finished basement play rooms rumpus rooms.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Origins of

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    Jterrilynn, I just revisited this thread and saw the nice remark you shared with me in response to my comment about "pink as neutral." I missed your post previously, so I didn't thank you earlier since I didn't see it before! It really perked up my day to find your kind words.

    So it's long overdue, but...thanks Jterri!

  • rosie
    11 years ago

    Marcolo's spot on about ways developers looked to cut costs with the analogy of the corner pantry. Yes, they did adopt some progressive ideas that were seen to work, but they sure did often mess them up a lot anyway. How about the chilly "great" room that allowed all the warm air to escape up? Or the ones with the two-store ceiling except for the second-floor hall overhanging part of the "great" room--like a humongous soffit placed where the upstairs needed it to be, but not exactly an asset to the typical great room.

    I recently looked on Craig's List for a desk that was already configured for a computer setup (I wanted to hide it all in a multifunction piece in our tiny vacation living room). Ohmygosh, did I find a bunch of junk. To save money, manufacturers had marketed "modern" designs with open shelves instead of drawers (big production cost saving) and just left an open shelf to set pencils or whatever on. Hide the tower behind a door? Sadly old fashioned, modern is SIMPLE (cost pared further). Letting the cords hang free is "honest," design with integrity. This kind of paring away at construction costs, like the corner pantry, is all too analogous to what was done in many, many subdivisions.

    As for Susan Susanka, tract homes did get bigger and more elaborate, with some of the worst problems addressed (circulate that warm air) but if you look at her books you'll see that big gorgeous tract homes are specifically the ones she faults and feels we really need alternatives too.

    (BTW, foy-er was what I originally called our 12x12 9'-ceiling room with the front door, but it unfortunately makes my daughter feel a need to correct my pronunciation. Fifteen years post adolescence and I'm still embarrassing her. :)

  • palimpsest
    11 years ago

    I have occasionally been asked what to "do" with some of these double-height foyers or small footprint rooms, and my first response is usually to think about putting a Floor in it.

  • emagineer
    11 years ago

    Great rooms have been around since the 60s and named such. I lived in two houses during that time when the kids were young and both had this design...CA. Along with a separate living room which was rarely used. And 10 years ago I fell for the layout you just mentioned with a "plant" shelf high on the open ceiling. They could have added 2' to the "master" upstairs using the lost shelf area. Yes, it was a standard builder grade and matched the many others seen. They still had a separate living room, but staged as an office.

    On the other hand, our home on the ranch was open concept and never called it the great room. I don't think we called it anything,, other than what each area was.

    Am in a smaller home now without an open concept and do miss it at times. But sure is well insulated and guessing my utilities are much lower. There is a master which is a necessary listing. Even if just a bigger room separated from the other two bedrooms, which my house has with higher ceilings. I use it as my office/art room. Wouldn't know what to call my personal bedroom (Mine?).

    Back to design past, my norm to this day is comfort and color. Good furniture from rustic to clean lines. As I get older there is less "things" to dust. Can't get away from ranch life, perhaps memories to hang on to. Except for the plantation shutters, which will always be loved. Have never been into heavy drapes, flowered patterns or lace anything. Never got into the mediteranian heavy furniture or what they now call rustic pine. I've made my decorating mistakes, but this forum keeps me in line and have fun seeing all for new ideas.

    I can drool over all the new kitchens, my maple is driving me nuts. They should have listed these as...gone. Even if they are painted...gone.

    As an old computer graphics engineer, I can tell you that furniture (PB, RTA, etc) started with companies designing their office furniture and layouts. Computers interacting with equipment that cuts the pieces. Almost anything not hand built or by quality manufacturers is done this way. Kit houses are coming back using the same process. Will never be a Sears kit house. Maybe this process will become more defined and better quality. But it is here to stay and does allow many to buy furniture they may not have been able to afford. Other than PB prices, PB has done a darn good job on marketing. Wonder when they will be added to the list.

    We all have our own style, tis' called home. Apologies to those who decorate with what I mentioned. I see many of your homes that call to me, but never get there completely. Have used many ideas and resources which I love trying.

  • black-thumb
    11 years ago

    "My brother/sil are "able" but they don't! They still have 70's mediterranean/Spanish!! I want to say something, but don't have the heart. She watches hgtv so you would think she would get a clue. ;o)"
    Is it really that heinous a crime?
    To have "dated" furnishings?
    Are we too overly concerned with keeping up with some invisible arbiter of current decorating?
    If said family likes their home's vibe, if the home is functional, and if they have no need to stay "hip, hot, and happening" why should that disturb anyone?

    I for one respect people who go their own way and pay no attention to fashion divas and consumerism.
    And that's what this is- sheer consumerism.
    Many, many people have far more important matters to concern themselves with than following every decorating "rule" or trend.
    Many people are lucky to have a sofa and the fact that it is out of style matters not in the least.
    IMO the entire industry is a study in keeping up with the Jonses.
    Good grief- buy what you like, use the colors that make you happy and stop asking everyone else what to do.

    :)

    Cearbhail

    I have to agree with you. I never got into keeping up with trends when it comes to my home. I work and spend my hard earned money on what I like and makes me say Ahhhh when I walk through my door. I'ts my home so why should someone elses opinion determine how I decorate. When I was sixteen I fell in love with the Queen Anne rice carved four poster bed set and said that is what I will have when I grow up. Well I am currently lying on that very same Queen Anne rice carved four poster bed at the age of forty-four. I'ts real wood and in great shape even after twentythree years.

    I have just recently decided to get a new bedroom set and religate this one for a guest bedroom. Still love it but now I have my eye set on a gorgeous tufted leather sleigh bed. Which I will more than likely lay on for the next 20 before I am ready for a change.

    I decorate my home the way I like and yup I still love a picnic plaid sofa and chairs for the family room off the red white and blue kitchen featuring apples with picnic plaid ribbon. :) My money, my house, my choice. The words trendy and dated don't matter to me because when it comes to my home the only word that matters is happy.

    Oh yeah I still have a television with a big butt on the back too in my enclosed entertainment unit in teh livingroom. Why? Because it still works and I don't see the point of getting rid of it just to get a flat screen. Your house do what you want. If someone else doesn't like it just say "O.K" and keep on being happy with your choice.

  • janetraz
    11 years ago

    black thumb, I like your post and agree with everything you have to say.I also have a fat tv in my bedroom enclosed in an armoire, which I have read are very 'out'. I have 2 armoires in my home and I love them both. They arent going anywhere. I much appreciate an original house that suits the owners than a house that looks like a Drs. waiting room, which I think all the staged homes look like. I prefer a homey, unique kitchen that looks like it gets use than one that looks like no one goes in there unless to polish the granite and ss. In my younger days I was always trying to keep up with trends but over the last 10 yrs. I have become very happy and comfortable with favorite furnishings I have collected over the years. I think our home reflects our hobbies and style.
    I have a 'greatroom' which I have always interpreted to be a large living room area instead of 2 separate living areas. As empty nesters, it works for us. When our kids were at home the separate 'formal' livingroom was nice because the kids and their friends could hang out in there. Now it would be a totally unused room.
    Lastly, I have a dreaded wall paper border in our guest bath. I picked it, hubby hung it and 12 yrs. later I still love it. It's also staying.
    I love home decorating, looking at magazines, watching some shows and reading home decor websites. I also will decorate my home to suit our lifestyle and worry about trends and fads at all.

  • graywings123
    11 years ago

    That's the part I don't get. There is nothing wrong with not changing your decor. But it is odd to me that people who don't change their decor - but have the money to do so - would spend any appreciable time on a home decorating forum. I'm not interested in changing out my car every few years and much of my clothing is old. Both by choice. But I don't post on car forums or fashion forums.

  • stinky-gardener
    11 years ago

    I never thought about it until I read Blackthumb's post, but the two televisions we own sport "big butts." We're not big tv people, so they serve the purpose. When one breaks, a space-saving, streamlined flat screen would be nice, but buying one is not on my short list of priorities. I never thought about how dated our tv's must appear to others until now. But it's okay. They fit in with the rest of our decor!

  • janetraz
    11 years ago

    graywings, the fun thing about decorating forums is that you can get many great ideas for your own home and its just plain fun to see other's homes. Decorating is not just what the 'experts' dictate, most of which is not very practical for the majority. I love looking at people's pictures of their homes and the wonderful things they have done. Some I love, some not so much, but its fun to look at. I think decor is such a personal thing, and should be. Example, I see many pictures of beautiful, 'in', expensive kitchens that people have posted. I enjoy and can appreciate the beauty and design. Then I see the kitchen of a person that has lived in their house for 40-50 yrs.,full of personal items collected over the years. The appliances are old, the cabinets old and lovingly repainted, the furniture cleverly mix matched.These folks want to participate too. And....their kitchens are wonderful! Why do you think that only those interested in the latest trends don't appreciate home decor? Home decor is fun whether you can afford to redo every 5 yrs. or are happy with your family hand me downs and items you love. I love it when I see an idea and think, "I love that" and I can acheive that with what I already have.

  • black-thumb
    11 years ago

    Janetz

    You are absolutely right. I enjoy looking at other homes and watching all those HGTV shows. You can take any idea and tailor it to fit your taste. Also I may want to share my photos too and there will be others on the boards that can appreciate my taste and enjoy looking.

    I might not change out the furniture pieces but I can try a new wall color or change the comforter, there is more to decorating than throwing out all the old and bringing in all new. I enjoy changing the look of a room just by adding or taking away various accessories. I get to keep the pieces I love but still when I want it have a fresh look.

    Stinky-gardener

    Those big butt televisions will probably last for ever! lol

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    11 years ago

    I agree with you, janetaz. I also post on fashion forums though I've never owned a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes. I enjoy talking with people about fashion, just as I enjoy talking with people about decor. If I wasn't having a good time, I wouldn't be here.

  • jjdcl
    11 years ago

    I've heard granite countertops have been out for several years, so when I went to look for new ones during our kitchen remodel I checked out quartz and caesarstone first. I just wasn't impressed with them as I was the granite. I don't think it will go out of style. I have to say black granite is so low maintenance, too. It doesn't need sealing and I can spill anything on it and get it off (including paint :/).

    My husband and I are remodeling and we were talking about what we would do if we custom built a house. We both agreed that formal dining rooms are as much of a waste of space as formal living rooms. We'd rather just have a big breakfast room instead. We also have a great room, but it gets insanely noisy. Next time we'll have some separation between the kitchen/breakfast room and the family room. I wouldn't necessarily put up a wall between the two, but I'd have it offset to the side like an L shape they used to build in smaller track homes. That's just my preference though.

  • rosie
    11 years ago

    So many people dine exclusively in their "breakfast" rooms or areas adjoining the family living area. When will the very idea of calling a home's real dining space a breakfast room be considered hopelessly dated? So overdue--nothing's as inappropriate as that piece of silliness.

    Yes, Jjdcl, your thoughts brought that one up. Surely it's that redundant table gathering dust in a side room you're shucking off and your dining room that you do, of course, intend to keep? :)

  • Fun2BHere
    11 years ago

    The table in the room adjacent and open to my kitchen only seats four. Eating a meal with more than four people takes place in the room adjacent but not open to my kitchen. Other activities take place at both tables depending on the number of people involved, the time of day and the season...Internet browsing, book reading, game playing, puzzle working, crafting, letter writing, package opening, package wrapping, list making, conferencing, etc. Sometimes, both tables get used for the same meal with the smaller table used for snacking, conversation and meal preparation and the larger table used for eating the resultant meal. I like both tables and both rooms and would like to have a similar arrangement in any house where I live.

  • black-thumb
    11 years ago

    We both agreed that formal dining rooms are as much of a waste of space as formal living rooms.

    For me I need both. I'm also not a big fan of open floor plans I need to have the ability to close off sections. Plus I love hallways. Twisting winding hallways that takes you different places. lol

  • jterrilynn
    11 years ago

    Is not using your dining room but for holidays or special events really all that new? I'm originally from the mid west and only knew of a handful of people that used their dining room on a regular basis. Almost everyone I knew had a small table in the kitchen. That's the table where all the housewives had coffee in the afternoon with friends. Game playing, crafts and homework were done there as well as breakfast and dinner. Same at my grandma's house! She had a huge table in the middle of the kitchen and that is where all the action was. Grandma was also a baker and did all her wedding cakes there. The formal dining room was for holidays and special dinners. I'm in my early fifties and that is how it has been most of my life. I have lived in Florida since 1978 and it's the same here. Maybe it's different in other states? And, having a formal room that does not get used regularly is not really all that new either. Formal rooms, parlors and such are as old as the hills. They used to be the "nice" rooms kids were not allowed in as they must remain pristine to entertain adult friends. Sometimes we think things have changed much more than they have. Granted you did not see a computer in the mix then.

  • graywings123
    11 years ago

    Why do you think that only those interested in the latest trends don't appreciate home decor? Home decor is fun whether you can afford to redo every 5 yrs. or are happy with your family hand me downs and items you love. I love it when I see an idea and think, "I love that" and I can achieve that with what I already have.

    So you are changing your decor, you just are not doing a major reno? That I understand, and I think it is what the vast majority of us do. But I read posts that make it sound like the posters have decorated their homes and then stopped and never changed anything again. If you are making changes, even small ones, then you are following trends to some extent.

  • Oakley
    11 years ago

    jt, I did a topic a year or so ago asking why they don't make kitchens with kitchen tables anymore. I'm in the midwest too, and all of the older homes have kitchens like that, and I love them. So much fun playing cards and snacking away. lol.

    Pal, my son is building a home with a two story foyer. Thankfully I convinced them to add an extra room there for a study or simply for storage.

    The pro's can tell us all they want that granite is "out", but I say b.s. LOL.

  • jterrilynn
    11 years ago

    Yeah Oakley, all the kitchens in the neighborhood I grew up in were at least the size of the family room or close too. They were large in comparison to the over all square footage of the home. It's a good thing to as everyone who did not have a full basement had to house that new fangled washer and dryer in the kitchen area. Of course down the road people added on or found new areas for the washer and dryer but at first they all went in the room with "room" that already had electric and plumbing.

  • kathleencam
    11 years ago

    So my 3 day old granite counters are passe? I don't think so. I doubt that these particular designers will ever come to a consensus on the One True Counter. Then people wouldn't feel compelled to keep buying new counters.

    I looked at a lot of counter choices, but Absolute Granite seemed like the most practical. I don't to get concrete just because it is hip right now.

  • kathleencam
    11 years ago

    So my 3 day old granite counters are passe? I don't think so. I doubt that these particular designers will ever come to a consensus on the One True Counter. Then people wouldn't feel compelled to keep buying new counters.

    I looked at a lot of counter choices, but Absolute Granite seemed like the most practical. I don't need to get concrete just because it is hip right now.

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