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Original poster

do you have a dedicated dining room?

23 replies

JustJam4Tea · 09/03/2022 10:38

We've got a table in the kitchen, nice light room and view of garden.

We've also got a dining room, with a big grand table (that comes apart easily). It gets used about once a week for a family dinner - but those people who come can usually fit around the table in the kitchen.

My view is that for the half a dozen times a year we want to do a 'posh' meal - or have more than the usual that fit round the table we'll reestablish the dining room. But the rest of the time it can be a nice little snug for me...

would you leave it unused most of the time?

OP posts:

Twospaniels · 09/03/2022 10:43

We have a table and chairs in the kitchen which only I use at breakfast time. Only me and husband at home now.
Dining room is used very rarely for eating in, maybe once a month.
But now I WFH 3 afternoons in there
I also use it when I get my sewing machine out.
It’s a wasted room on the whole so I think if you make it into a snug that is a great idea.

User76745333 · 09/03/2022 10:49

Yes but we have a big house and already have a living room, living kitchen, a large study with sofas and a snug. If I had a kitchen with a table, a living room and a dining room I'd do away with the dedicated dining room.

MrsAvocet · 09/03/2022 10:55

We use our dining room every day apart from if we bave a "takeaway and a film" night so I wouldn't want to be without it. But we don't have a big enough kitchen to fit a table in, so it's different. If you don't use yours its just wasted space isn't it, so you may as well repurpose it.
The only potential flaw in your plan that I can think of, is that presumably as well as dismantling the dining table you are doing to put some extra furniture in the snug, so reconverting into a dining room might not be quite so simple as it sounds - unless there's space in there for both? Also, do you have somewhere to store the table where it wont get subjected to big changes in temperature and humidity in case it warps or something? (I'm no expert but we have quite a nice antique dining table and also keep our piano in the dining room and DH is always fussing over the temperature and humidity in there.)

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WhiteXmas21 · 09/03/2022 10:58

We do. It’s used as a staging area for stuff to go to the charity shop; my sewing space; piano room, present wrapping area. Pretty much anything except dining , except Christmas.
Friends join us in the kitchen; however at some point it may become my ‘old lady’ bedroom, when I cannot do the stairs 😁

Boood · 09/03/2022 11:00

Technically, although it has become my office during the day so in practice spends more time being used as an office than a dining room. But all my work stuff is tidied up every night, and we eat every meal in it.

Original poster

JustJam4Tea · 09/03/2022 11:00

The dining table handily splits into 3 separate tables that are small enough to use as side tables in a room. And one can go upstairs in the hall.... The chairs are more of an issue. It has nice matching Victorian chairs but I think we'd ditch them and keep the ones that are in the kitchen to bring in - which aren't Victorian at all...

It just seems a waste to have a room that is hardly used.. except for working from home.

OP posts:

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 09/03/2022 11:02

Our last house had a dining room. The table wasn't used for eating... lego, board games, craft, homework...

The room also had a bar and a comfy reading chair for me.

irregularegular · 09/03/2022 11:03

Not a separate dining room, no. We have a large kitchen/dining/living room (and separate sitting room). All meals are at that dining table. Sits 8 unextended and 12 extended. Much better use of space I think. I have no desire for a separate dining room. But obviously if your kitchen is smaller then you may need one.

irregularegular · 09/03/2022 11:06

If it is only used 6 times a year then that definitely seems like a poor use of space unless you live in a huge house with all the rooms you need for other things. You might need to think a bit creatively about folding tables etc to create a nice dining room when you need it.

cheapskatemum · 09/03/2022 11:08

We used to, until DH appropriated it as his office whilst he was wfh. He's now working abroad & we've discussed having a formal dining room again, but we've already got a dining table at one end of our large lounge & a kitchen table, both of which can accommodate 6-8 diners, plus a breakfast bar with 4 stools, so I honestly don't see the point. I'm not exactly hosting dinner parties at the moment either!

gogohm · 09/03/2022 11:08

I chose a kitchen diner. I had a dining room and knocked through

nearlyspringyay · 09/03/2022 11:09

Not any more - when we did the table was just used as a dumping ground for random site. Our kitchen had a big table and was much cosier. Dining room got used for Christmas!

merryhouse · 09/03/2022 11:10

We have a dining room which we use for all lunches and dinners and which some of the household use for breakfast.

We don't have room for a table in the kitchen though.

I have my laptop at one end of the dining table, and when S1 had actual Written Work (maths) to do while at home he used the other end. (The others find it quite amusing that on these occasions I sit in his place and he sits in my place...)

I also do my zoom exercise class in here.

altforvarmt · 09/03/2022 11:10

My dining room is also my office, library, sewing room and music room. It's easily the most multifunctional room in the house.

ancientgran · 09/03/2022 11:10

My dining room is very dedicated, it has to be to cope with the crap DH and GC dump in there. I think it deserves some credit.

MangoLipstick · 09/03/2022 11:10

No - we don’t have the extra room, but we do have a a good sized kitchen diner type space with enough room for an 8 seater table & chairs. It’s south facing & nice and bright. Probably my favourite part of the house. All our meals are eaten there, dc plays at the table whilst I’m pottering in the kitchen, dh sometimes works on his laptop from it on wfh days, it’s generally the social hub of the home when guests come round too.

merryhouse · 09/03/2022 11:11

Oh yes, we hold Family Game Night in here too - cards, TP, Mahjongg etc

Movinghouseatlast · 09/03/2022 11:13

We eat every evening in our dining room. We have a table in the kitchen as well. I love my dining room.

We also have an armchair in there- so it is a little snug as well.

Hoppinggreen · 09/03/2022 11:13

@Boood

Same here I had an office upstairs as I have always WFH but once DH started to he had my office and I am downstairs in the dining room now We have a Breakfast bar in the kitchen so we do use that as well but it takes me less than 5 minutes to put my work stuff away in any case

beguilingeyes · 09/03/2022 11:19

We do, but it's become the living/dining room at the moment as my husband has the front room as his office, and will do for the forseeable.

TeenPlusCat · 09/03/2022 11:20

Our dining room is used daily for our evening meal, and also at weekends for lunch.
It is also used as homework location, playing board games, sorting paperwork, fixing sails --(outing hobby)- etc.

In your case it would seem a waste to have a room and only use it 6 times a year.

FelicityFlops · 09/03/2022 11:38

Yes, it was my one non-negotiable for buying a house.
It is used every day. I am not a fan of eating in the kitchen or open-plan living.

JaninaDuszejko · 09/03/2022 11:55

In our last house we had a small kitchen and a dining room that was used every day. Now we have a large kitchen diner and the dining half is big enough for a 12 seater table so we only ever eat in there. The room that the previous owners had as a formal dining room we use as a playroom. I think it very much depends on the house and layout but you should use the rooms so that they work the best for you every day of the year.

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