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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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 )
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:

Finnyhaddock · 16/03/2018 17:01

We sometimes put the iPad on the dining room table!

soupforbrains · 16/03/2018 17:02

TVs in the bedroom are generally a bad idea because they are not good for sleep patterns, blue light etc. BUT I do admit a little envy in the sense that it seems lovely and cosy to have one there.

Definitely NOT in the child's room though.

IHaveBrilloHair · 16/03/2018 17:06

I grew up in the 80's/90's and we had a TV in the dining room and the kitchen, of course the lounge and my brother and I had one in our bedrooms, I had a phone in mine too.
V middle class family.

Notasunnybunny · 16/03/2018 17:08

Agree with the idea that the richer you are the less TVs you have. I feel very common because I have a tv in my ‘drawing room’. Friends of mine who definitely fall into the very wealthy and in some cases upper class category only have a tv in the ‘snug or den’. This is often a small room off of the kitchen. A tv in the dining room would be unheard of.

Littlechocola · 16/03/2018 17:11

I hate the idea of a television in the dining room. It’s quite sad.

geekymommy · 16/03/2018 17:18

We have a TV in our dining room. We're not rich. We're also introverts who are tired after a long day at work, and don't really have the energy to make scintillating conversation by dinner time. A TV in the dining room is also useful for bribing the DCs.

I used to like watching TV in bed. I'm not sure it would be nearly as nice now that I have bifocals. Does watching TV in bed work when you have bifocals?

It's only fair to say that DH would have a TV in every single room including bathrooms if he had his way, though.

Doesn't he know that's what smartphones or tablets are for?

StarbucksSmarterSister · 16/03/2018 17:18

I once went to the house of an exceeding rich (self-made) man in Kensington Palace Gardens. I won't name him but you will have heard of him. It was work related and we had to go round the whole house. He had a tv in every single room that we saw except the loo. He was, however, not European so I think it's a cultural difference.

I did once work for a British guy who had a wall mounted tv in his bathroom so he could watch whilst in the bath.

I have one tv, in the sitting room where it belongs.

StarbucksSmarterSister · 16/03/2018 17:20

exceedingly rich, not exceeding

PortiaCastis · 16/03/2018 17:21

I'm sad then as I've a tv in the lounge one in the dining room and one in my bedroom and one in dds bedroom but hey I don't care what anyone thinks

IfNot · 16/03/2018 17:23

We have a television in the East wing, for the staff.
We only use the dining room for parties, preferring to eat in the main kitchen with the dogs.

blaaake · 16/03/2018 17:27

I don't have one in mine. It'd look like a bloody conference room. And I don't even go in there anyway

Coyoacan · 16/03/2018 17:28

I thought TVs were passé

TalkinPeace · 16/03/2018 17:29

We have a TV in the living room that is normally hidden away in a cupboard.
Would not dream of having one in the dining room
or in the snug, or in the bedrooms, or in the kitchen

Mookatron · 16/03/2018 17:29

We have a TV in the morning room and one in the orangery, but not - never- in the dining room. I believe there is one in the nursery however.

Aroundtheworldandback · 16/03/2018 17:31

I have counted we have 11 bloody tv’s in the house including our ensuite (came with house not our choice) but thankfully non in the dining room! Rare for me to even watch tv!

Pemba · 16/03/2018 17:32

Perhaps you could ask a housemaid to check, Mookatron ?

Mookatron · 16/03/2018 17:38

Yes I shall ask whichever Mary comes to light the fire.

sleepylittlebunnies · 16/03/2018 17:38

My parents have TVs in the front room and the dining room. My dad falls asleep in his recliner in the front room and mum sits at the dining table reading the papers, doing the cross word and watching morning TV. They don’t actually watch the TV while eating though. Just because a TV is in a certain room doesn’t mean it has to be watched at all times. Mind they wouldn’t claim to be middle class nor aspire to be.

We have TVs in the lounge and the conservatory where our dining table is and they are massive as the kids like to do their gaming in the conservatory and we all enjoy watching films etc in the lounge. Again we turn them off when we eat and wish to chat. I couldn’t imagine judging others on their TV habits nor where they keep their fruit bowl.

AnneElliott · 16/03/2018 17:41

Definitely not in the dining room. I can feel my mother hyperventilating at the very thought

ikeepaforkinmypurse · 16/03/2018 17:46

what's the point to have a tv in the dining room? If you really want to avoid your family, you might as well eat on your laps while slobbing in front of the tv, a chair can't be that comfortable.
If my kids were staring at a screen whilst eating, things would get messy - it's hard enough to teach them some kind of table manners when they are not distracted.

I am not rich and working class, and we only have a tv in the family room. I wish I had a proper tv room cinema-style, if someone is willing to gift me a mansion?

NutCase82 · 16/03/2018 17:58

I think that's quite sad really

scaryteacher · 16/03/2018 18:01

We have one TV in the house and that is in the sitting room. No TV in my dining room, and we would be considered well off. We do have a Bose thingy in the dining room for music, but the dining room leads to the kitchen, so I can listen to Classic FM whilst I chop things.

ScreamingValenta · 16/03/2018 18:04

I can't imagine wanting a TV in the dining room whatever my level of wealth was. I put the radio on if I'm alone and don't want silence.

UrgentScurryfunge · 16/03/2018 18:10

Goodness no, I didn't have a TV in the dining room when I was growing up. It was in the breakfast room instead

Seriously, put a sensibly proportioned TV wherever you like.
I'd say that if you take such things seriously then you wouldn't find it classy to have a TV in the dining room

pinkginanyone · 16/03/2018 18:10

New money, possibly.

We don’t use the dining room only the kitchen dining area and we don’t tv in there (or in the bedrooms). I don’t know anyone with a tv in the formal dining room and a few with a tv in the kitchen.

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