I had a very funny moment last night with a few friends when we realized we had something odd in common (and you may too).
In the house I grew up in, we ate dinner as a family every night. You might think that the room we ate in was the dining room–that makes sense from the name and the table in that room–but that wasn’t the case. Instead, we ate at the kitchen table.
In fact, we hardly ever ate (or even entered) the dining room. It was used maybe 3 times a year for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Not only could we not eat at this table, but even the rug was special in that room–if we dared cut through the room, we had to avoid stepping on the rug.
I realized how ridiculous all of this was last night when 3 out of the 4 of us shared nearly the exact same memories of our childhood homes. Different states, different families, same dining table and room that was hardly ever used for dining (or as a room).
Did you have anything like this in your childhood house?
Yes! We had effectively 2 living rooms. So, the one we actually used was called the rec room. The kitchen was small and the dining room was too. My parents did something clever and knocked down walls and the former living room merged to form one large kitchen/dining/hangout area and became much more functional.
Our neighbors house next door, which was built in the same original layout, still has that strange rarely used second living room.
That’s clever that they realized that they could just merge the two rooms!
We used to have a table in the dining room. Then my parents moved it to the kitchen which is where all the food activities happen. The dining room changed to a small tv room then to an office.
My husband’s family used the dining room for all their needs. The kitchen table is used for extra counter space while prepping or storing food.
I guess if we ever want a fancy dining experience, we eat at a fancy restaurant
“if we ever want a fancy dining experience, we eat at a fancy restaurant”
I like that! 🙂
When i was a kid we didn’t have a dining room, we ate in the dining nook in the kitchen and now that we do have a dining room (more like a dining area because the whole downstairs is open floor) and table, we only eat there during Thanksgiving and Christmas and rarely when we have more people that need to be fed. 363 days of the year it has board games setup on it. Either stuff I’m playing with my kids or solo.
I’m glad the room is getting good tabletop use for most of the year. 🙂
Yeah, my parents built a house in the early 90’s, and they had an open space with the kitchen, a dining nook, and family room. Those are the rooms we actually used. But then we had a separate formal dining room off the kitchen, and a separate formal living room off the family room. We only used the dining room when we had company, though we did use it for more than just holidays. Maybe one or two times per month. The formal living room we used even less often. There was a piano in there that nobody played. And some years we put a Christmas tree in there. But we didn’t have any rules about not using those rooms or walking in them.
My wife and I built our house a couple of years ago. We have just a single dining space in the great room that we use for both family and company. Although, during the warmer months, we eat family meals on our sun porch so we can watch birds while we eat :-).
Did you design your current home from scratch?
Jamey,
So, I grew up with just a kitchen. When I was first married, we had a dining room, but we used it, as you correctly stated, about three times a year. When I got divorced, I said, “I’ll never miss this room.” Since then, the homes I’ve lived in have had a dining room, but we’ve converted the room into larger living room area.
Cheers,
Joe
I’m glad that room is now getting plenty of use!