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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think this will end up as a dumping ground?

30 replies

Bouncingbelle · 31/07/2018 00:55

Apologies - v v 1st world problems.
Have eventually found affordable house to buy in nice area (not been decorated in 40 years but hey ho).
What's putting me off is theres a living room, then a dining room which you need to walk thru to get to the kitchen. I just can't see how this room wont become a dumping ground for all the crap of the day. Dp seems to think we could fit a table, a sofa AND a tv in here, Doc's want it to be a pkay room, and I would like a nice tranquil dining room we could sit at every day and have civilised meals.
If you have a room that essentially has to double up as a corridor to your kitchen, has it just become A dumping ground???! Or am I just panicking?

OP posts:

IncyWincyGrownUp · 31/07/2018 01:01

A friend has one that’s a lovely dining room. Another has one that is a dumping ground. I think it really depends on the habits of the people living there.

I know for a fact that if I had one with a table in, it would be a dumping ground. If it was a sofa/radio/bookcase type room it wouldn’t suffer as much due to lack of table.

lindalee3 · 31/07/2018 06:49

Yeah it doesn't help that you have to walk through the dining room to get to the kitchen. No way is that going to be a 'nice, tranquil dining room' for you to all relax in.

A dining room that everyone has to pass through to get to the kitchen would be a dealbreaker for me I'm afraid.

And yeah, it will be a dumping ground.

KickBishopBrennanUpTheArse · 31/07/2018 06:53

I had this in my old house and the kitchen had a table in it so we rarely ate in the dining room. Sometimes the table would be a foot deep in crap!

I switched the rooms so front room was lovely formal dining room (also used to work from home) and through room was living room. It worked much better for us. Especially when dd was a toddler and I could keep a better eye on her.

FASH84 · 31/07/2018 06:54

We have a living room and a dining room which are open plan and a morning room, the latter you have to walk through to get to the kitchen, it hasn't become a dumping ground, I agree with a PP it depends on the people who live there, the layout of furniture will also make a difference. Now if I can just convince DH not to leave his pants on the bathroom floor...

Sunshineface123 · 31/07/2018 06:59

Would it be possible to convert the kitchen and dining room to one larger kitchen diner? If it's the kitchen table it couldn't really be a dumping a ground! (You might not like kitchen/diners or want to spend that sort of money)

SpiritedLondon · 31/07/2018 07:03

I don’t understand - surely if it’s right next to the kitchen it’s more likely to be used by the family than a formal dining room that’s left for Sunday lunch and Christmas dinner. I’m sure if you’re concerned about it you can be creative in a way which means the space has a purpose and use without it attracting the kind of family junk you seemed concerned about. Where would you put a dining table if not in there? Is it within the realms of possibility to switch the living room and dining room over?

Queenofthestress · 31/07/2018 07:16

I have this, my front room is my dining room/office, the middle room is the playroom/lounge, so much easier to keep an eye on the dc's when cooking & the front room gets cleaned all the time as it's the first room you see when you walk in!

GeorgeIII · 31/07/2018 07:17

Don't eat in the kitchen, then dining table has to be clear, surely.

Thedutchwife · 31/07/2018 07:18

Knock it through ?

CuppaSarah · 31/07/2018 07:19

We have this layout. It works great for us. The dining room is very relaxed. We have the computers and desk in there too and a playspace for the kids. It's certainly not for everyone, but we really love the layout. The dining room is the hub of our home.

astoundedgoat · 31/07/2018 07:22

We had a similar layout in our old house and it was fine. Every so often clutter would build up, but then we'd just have friends over for dinner and clear it out and it would be fine again for a couple of weeks!

It's entirely up to you whether you tolerate everyone dumping schoolbags and coats on the table or not.

If you want to keep the room clear for eating and homework and stuff just enforce it. I probably wouldn't be aspiring to a french polish job and the silverware laid out on display though.

NotMeNoNo · 31/07/2018 07:26

It's a very common layout in town houses. Most I've seen make it part of a big kitchen or a family room/informal dining room. Whether it will be a dumping ground depends on whether there is anywhere to put things in the rest of the house.

LittleRen · 31/07/2018 07:30

I just move the crap that gets dumped anywhere in the house that it isn’t supposed to be dumped, or get the kids to move it. It’s definitely not something to panic about... just enforce the rules.

We have a lovely dining room which we also use as a morning room, with a sofa. It’s not a walk through though.

FinallyHere · 31/07/2018 07:34

Ah, know i know why my mother used to sing "don't put it down, put it away" to us...

deary · 31/07/2018 07:40

I love mine! It is the heart of the house! We sit and eat at the table every day. The DC have done art, crafts, homework at the table. I sit and work at it. Friends sit and drink coffee at it.
Yes, it is a bit of a dumping ground, but that is my choice. It is a family room and we come with our stuff!
We don't have a kitchen table though!

Notso · 31/07/2018 07:50

Ours is a dumping ground.
We have coat hooks, and a shoe rack with a shelf on top for baskets but people walk past and dump bags and coats on the table.
We have a kitchen table though that we use everyday.
If we weren't moving we were going to turn it into a second sitting room/playroom.

CrazyDaisy2018 · 31/07/2018 12:43

If my house was like this it would be a dumping ground. As it is we can walk in to the kitchen from the hall and there's a breakfast bar we never use, so that's out dumping ground instead! It normally only gets cleared when the cat can't find a spot to sit without either her or other stuff falling on the floor.

It's very much because that's just how we are though. My parents dining table is their dumping ground so I'm just used to it!

jelliebelly · 31/07/2018 12:51

Think of it as a family room rather than a formal dining room - it's lovely to have that kind of family space to use - start as you mean to go on with keeping surfaces clear - with a new house you can set the rules from day one!

Original poster

Bouncingbelle · 31/07/2018 21:36

Thanks all, the seller does say it's been the heart of their home, so maybe it will become that for us! Tho am now considering what some of you say and just making that the living room and the front room a separate dining room.
I would absolutely knock through but unfortunately they aren't directly behind one another. You go down through a door on the right hand side of the back wall of the "corridor room" and that is you in the left hand side of the kitchen - if that makes any sense!! Oh, though could maybe one day extend kitchen to the left a bit and then knock through, that would make one fabulous room!!
I am a natural "clutterer" - (DP is definitely not) - so think I'm just going to have to be strict with myself! There's no room for a table in the kitchen so this will HAVE to be the kitchen table, so if we are using it every day then I suppose there is no excuse for it to be cluttered!

OP posts:

MereDintofPandiculation · 31/07/2018 22:13

If it's the kitchen table it couldn't really be a dumping a ground! I wouldn't be so sure of that! Ours has a border of dumped stuff, and a friend has a kitchen table where you have to excavate to put down a plate.

GeorgeIII · 01/08/2018 07:12

If you had a sideboard as well as a table ime the sideboard gets used to dump stuff and if it's behind the door you don't really see it anyway.

Strawberrybelly · 01/08/2018 07:34

We have a similar set up. Coats, shoes and bags are taken off in the hall so not dumped on the table. It usually gets a basket of clean laundry dumped on it until it makes it's way upstairs. At the moment it has a half empty box of coke zero cans, 2 pairs of shoes and a hood Dp found when he cleaned out the car. I do clear it off at least once a day. We eat there and Dd does craft there and drawing.

PipeTheFuckDown · 01/08/2018 07:38

I’ve just moved into a house with that layout. The front living room is my study and living room. The dining room has a table two armchairs and the DCs toys. They call it the Den. No space in hallway for coats and shoes so they go at the top of the cellar stairs which are off the Den. It’s only been two weeks though so could easily become a dumping ground when term starts again

mademybed123 · 01/08/2018 07:45

We have the same layout, with a table and side board in the dining area. Apart from papers and the odd toy on the sideboard, it's not a dumping ground - that's the entrance hall with bags and clothes and shoes, altho we have cupboards for both. GRRRR

OrdinarySnowflake · 01/08/2018 08:14

We have this layout and yes, it's a battle to keep the table clear of crap - mainly from dh!

I have to enforce bags go in the boxes for them in the hall, shoes and coats are taken off by the door etc. But paperwork, letters, toys, all end up on the table. It's used for playing a lot more, but then there's half finished board games on it when you want to eat.

Not sure if buy this layout again.

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