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Old 12-29-2010, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Wheaton, Illinois
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Speaking of which; when did dining rooms all of a sudden become "formal" dining rooms? And just because house salespeople talk that way does it mean the rest of us must parrot them?
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Old 12-29-2010, 01:04 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
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I think that informal dining rooms are those little rooms opening off of a kitchen that are too small or too connected otthe kitchen to really be a seperate room, but too large to call a nook. I think that they should call them dining areas and dining rooms rather than informal and formal dining rooms. I can tell you that there is very litle formality that goes on in our formal dining room most of the time.

It is formal in that there is a table withup to twelve charis a sideboard and a server. Thus, it has quite a bit of large semi-ornate furniture. Maybe that is what they mean. AN informal dining room is usually just a table.
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Old 12-29-2010, 01:59 PM
 
Location: Wheaton, Illinois
10,261 posts, read 21,645,257 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
I think that informal dining rooms are those little rooms opening off of a kitchen that are too small or too connected otthe kitchen to really be a seperate room, but too large to call a nook.that is what they mean.
I call it the "kitchen table". Now isn't that simple?
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Old 12-29-2010, 07:48 PM
 
20,793 posts, read 61,069,672 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishtom29 View Post
Speaking of which; when did dining rooms all of a sudden become "formal" dining rooms? And just because house salespeople talk that way does it mean the rest of us must parrot them?
I grew up in a house that was built in the mid 1800's and we had a formal dining room in that house, as well as an eat in kitchen (informal dining area). It isn't new.
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Old 12-29-2010, 08:30 PM
 
Location: University City, Philadelphia
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I also prefer separate compartmentalized rooms.

My house is a c.1890 Victorian with 3 floors near the University of Pennsylvania in the University City district of Philadelphia.

The Center Hall:


The Front Parlor:
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Old 12-30-2010, 09:41 AM
 
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I think its just is a matter of personal preference as I have lived in both. I personally like a more open floor plan.
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Old 12-30-2010, 09:57 AM
 
10,876 posts, read 13,756,821 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Irishtom29 View Post
Speaking of which; when did dining rooms all of a sudden become "formal" dining rooms? And just because house salespeople talk that way does it mean the rest of us must parrot them?
A formal dining room is one that is closed off on 3 sides. Also things like family rooms are often called hearth rooms now, and living rooms great rooms.
Though personally i like the open floorplans. Treads just change over the years like in the 60's with huge ranches, 70's with more modern pitched roofs, vaulted and cathedral ceilings, shag carpet, avocado appliances, the 80's was all about tons of levels, 3-4 floor houses, and wasn't hot unless it had carpet everywhere, off white appliances, oak cabinets and butcher block or formica countertops.
HGTV has been overthrowing the housing market in a way that so many people watch it 24/7 like it's the mecca for everything housing. If it doesn't have an open floor plan, hardwood floors, granite counter tops and stainless appliances, everyone slams the place and walks out the door.
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Old 12-30-2010, 09:58 AM
 
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I thoroughly DETEST open floor plans!!!! My last house burned down and it had distinctive areas for eat in kitchen/dining/then living. New house: followed the trend....open living. Considering my Mom moved in with me and then my daughter , it DOES NOT work! ... Ok, if you can be parents of little kids that you need to keep an eye on. Think ahead...While your older Mom is turning up the volume on the TV to drown out the sounds of cooking, while you're trying to have family conversation time.....YIKES! Some people like tv, some don't. I refuse to have a tv on when we ALL eat together. I hate outside interference in sacred-evening family sharing time. But, that is me and I live in an older multi generational household.
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Old 12-30-2010, 10:04 AM
 
Location: Texas
44,257 posts, read 64,051,768 times
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I think the reasons people like open floor plans:

1. Everyone can be doing something different but still be together.
2. Parents can do kitchen chores while keeping an eye on their kids
3. It makes the home seem bigger. When we were house buying, we could walk into a house that was supposedly 5000 square feet...but if it was chopped up into little rooms, it felt much smaller. Plus, what the heck was I gonna do with all those little rooms? Waste of space.
4. It makes much better use of natural light (I am a natural light junkie).
5. Bigger rooms tend to be more versatile - I remember seeing homes with many rooms and a lot of square feet, but not a single one of them could comfortably house a pool table...all the square footage in the world doesn't help if not a single room can serve a purpose you have in mind.
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Old 12-30-2010, 11:09 AM
 
9,238 posts, read 22,782,648 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stan4 View Post
I think the reasons people like open floor plans:

1. Everyone can be doing something different but still be together.
2. Parents can do kitchen chores while keeping an eye on their kids
3. It makes the home seem bigger. When we were house buying, we could walk into a house that was supposedly 5000 square feet...but if it was chopped up into little rooms, it felt much smaller. Plus, what the heck was I gonna do with all those little rooms? Waste of space.
4. It makes much better use of natural light (I am a natural light junkie).
5. Bigger rooms tend to be more versatile - I remember seeing homes with many rooms and a lot of square feet, but not a single one of them could comfortably house a pool table...all the square footage in the world doesn't help if not a single room can serve a purpose you have in mind.

But my responses to these points would be:
1. What if you really have no interest in being "together"? I kind of want to be separate.
2. I don't have kids, but even if I did, I wouldn't necessarily need to be looking at them constantly. I think being separate from them for a few minutes would be good for my sanity.
3. I don't really have a need for something to seem bigger. If I have 1500 square feet and it's divided into separate rooms or all in one big room, it's still 1500 square feet, and I like separation. Also, I maintain that open floor plans have tons of wasted space. There's so much space devoted to "flow" and not really being used. I actually use all my space.
4. All my separate rooms have lots of nice windows, and I get lots of natural light. Plus, if the sun is glaring on my TV, I can close a few shades and see the TV better. If I had tons of 20ft windows in a huge great room, this would not be so easy.
5. I have no need for a pool table, ping pong table, or to play basketball inn my living room. I think the "versatility" in a lot of the open plan homes is an illusion or myth. When you actually live there, you find you are very limited as to what you can do with the space. My sister's house is twice the size of mine and it's open-plan while mine is separated rooms. My rooms are much more versatile than hers, because I can change what I use any given room for, and it doesn't affect the other rooms around it.
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