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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Apparently rich people have TVs in their dining room

155 replies

Roundtumble · 16/03/2018 15:25

So I'm having a conversation with a family member about renovating the dining room and they have the idea of putting a TV in there. I said No, Tv's aren't meant for the dining room where we are meant to eat & enjoy each others company as a family. They respond with 'we're rich & rich people have Tv's in their dining room'.
(We are rich= in love, family etc etc not so much money..yet Grin)
First of all I don't know where they got that notion from that rich people have Tv's in their dining room and secondly not so much an Aibu because I don't think I am at all but what's your take on it?

It really annoys me that the TV is for the majority of the time the focal point at a lot of family gatherings(usually the men in my experience.) I think it should be off limits during any type of family time except for movie night etc. It totally takes away from really getting to spend time with your loved ones especially when you hardly get to see eachother with different work schedules/life in general.

OP posts:
hmcAsWas · 16/03/2018 16:07

I can answer this and then you can all move on Wink

Some rich people have a tv in their dining room, and some don't. Hth

lazymum99 · 16/03/2018 16:07

No point in a TV in the dining room. The butler would get in the way while he was serving at table.

RingtheBells · 16/03/2018 16:07

We have no TV in the dining room, but I can see the lounge TV from the table (through room). My iMac is perched on the dining room table though, so probably even more common.
We have a telly in the bedroom, well where else is DH going to watch his sports and crap films. Smile

slithytove · 16/03/2018 16:09

TV anywhere but the sitting room, and then ideally concealed, is common.

I have a TV in my bedroom :)

FluffyMcCloud · 16/03/2018 16:09

Having a dining room counts as rich in my opinion! I have a TV in the room we eat in because we eat in the lounge. But if I had a house big enough to have a dining room then no, I wouldn't put a TV in it.

WeAllHaveWings · 16/03/2018 16:09

We have a TV (in the living room) we can see from the dinning room (in our tiny house), does that count?

soupforbrains · 16/03/2018 16:11

Something about this seems to have brought my inner snob to the surface as at the mere suggestion of a TV in the Dining room my reaction was "God Lord how very uncivilised."

Absolutely No wealthy families of class would have a television in the dining room. It is absolutely not the done thing. As others have said only the nouveau riche or classless wealthy would do something like this.

As you quite rightly say the dining room is for eating, entertaining and conversing, enjoying one another's company and hopefully scintillating conversation and rapier wit not staring at a screen!

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 16/03/2018 16:11

We have a TV in our dining room (and while 'rich' is relative we are definitely not poor). It's only because that room started off as the sitting room and has recently become the dining room and I can't be bothered to get the cable re-sited. I wouldn't choose to have a TV in the dining room.

IVFNewbie · 16/03/2018 16:14

We have one TV in our house. The dining room is for eating (and playing games), our bedroom is for sleeping and other stuff. I would say that we're pretty well off.

RingtheBells · 16/03/2018 16:14

So which is more common, a TV in the dining room or a fruit bowl on the dining room table

Trinity66 · 16/03/2018 16:16

I don't have a dining room but I have a TV in my kitchen where we dine Grin

firstbornforbread · 16/03/2018 16:16

We have a tv in the dining room, but it's 10 years old and we're not rich. And we eat in the living room 😄

Slarti · 16/03/2018 16:17

We only have one in the living room. I wouldn't dream of having one in the dining room and I've never understood having one in the kitchen (we just have a radio in there). We do have a second living room but that just has a log burner and stereo in it. It is the antithesis to a TV room Grin

50ShadesOfEarlGrey · 16/03/2018 16:18

Only one TV in the whole house, in the living room. It is at least 10 years old 32”. Definitely not in the dining room as we like to talk to each other over dinner. We have a radio in most rooms.
I would like a TV in the breakfast room though, as I could watch that whilst cooking.

Jappydooda · 16/03/2018 16:19

I only have one TV and that's in the sitting room, in a cabinet that can be closed.

TeisanLap · 16/03/2018 16:21

We have a dedicated TV room.

But there's also a TV in the family sitting room as well.

None in the dining room.

SpringEquinox · 16/03/2018 16:22

We have a dining room with a dining table and a dresser - its where we eat, so I don't understand why there would be a TV in there. Even if you wanted to watch something whilst eating ( why ?) I couldn't work out where one would be placed so that half the people wouldn't be turning around ? . I do get that if you are eating on your own you might want to read something or watch something but an iPad/tablet works very well for that. We have a 22 inch in the main room and the same in the spare room and everyone has laptops/ tablets for individual watching in their rooms if they feel the need.

Trinity66 · 16/03/2018 16:23

I've never understood having one in the kitchen (we just have a radio in there).

How come you can understand having a radio in the kitchen but not a TV?

JoJoSM2 · 16/03/2018 16:24

What's the point of having a TV in the dining room? Sounds pretty daft.

We could be classed as rich and have TVs in the cinema room, the gym and the kitchen. No TVs in the dining room, sitting room or elsewhere in the house.

soupforbrains · 16/03/2018 16:26

@RingtheBells I was just on that thread too.

But DEFINITELY a TV in the dining room is the more common of the two sins Grin

Original poster
Roundtumble · 16/03/2018 16:26

soupforbrains I couldn't agree more. I'm looking at this family member in a very new light. I'm still shocked to high heavens at the mere suggestion.
Grin

OP posts:
JoJoSM2 · 16/03/2018 16:26

If they want to come across rich, perhaps they should invest in proper silverware and crystals for the dining room?

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 16/03/2018 16:26

We only have one TV in one sitting room. We have a large kitchen diner and with a second attached sitting room. No TV in any of those rooms but we do have a cage with 2 rather noisy guinea pigs who are quite entertaining to watch Wink (and get very lively at meal times as they get to snaffle any leftover salad).

Trinity66 · 16/03/2018 16:27

What's the point of having a TV in the dining room?

To watch TV?

BizzyFuxtons · 16/03/2018 16:28

I don't have a TV at all. I hate the look of them, and the DC watch their respective crap on their devices. I last watched TV in about 2001.