Dining Room?

[Corporate ORphan]

We are thinking of building a house and don't see the need for a formal dining room, at least for us if we have a large breakfast room to eat in. We were wondering if it would negatively affect resale value. Anyone have any ideas on the subject?
Thanks!

 

[Bamaman]

Depends on the price of the house and what all the other houses in the retail market have for dining. So many of the new houses have open floorplans.

We've inherited so much china, crystal and silver flatware that we have to have the dining room. Our 8 year old grandson just loves to set the table and eat formally.

 

[RunningBum]

Depends on the house. A McMansion would need one, so would one with a more formal look. I have an eating counter in my kitchen, and a semi-formal dining area on the other side of the counter, also open to the living room. I have a nice but not super-formal table and buffet (serves as my liquor cabinet) in it, but it could take a dinette set as well. It's a pretty nice house but open and somewhat contemporary. I'm not worried about it hurting resale but where I live I don't see many formal dining rooms.

 

[samclem]

Dining rooms are still expected in many upscale homes, maybe contact an experienced real-estate agent in your area to get a feel for this--depends on your location, style of home, price.

I think they are a total waste for our family. In your shoes, I might consider a design with a room that could be a hobby room/study etc for you guys and then converted to a dining room when you sell. If you design it with a future reconfiguration in mind (e.g. header and rough framing for a door to the kitchen, but just walled over for now. Box for a chandelier in the middle, but holds a regular light fixture now, etc), it can be relatively easy to change later.

 

[Moemg]

I think they are a giant waste in smaller homes but if you are building a 4 bedroom 3 bath it will be expected .

 

[cathy63]

I second samclem's suggestion. We have a breakfast room and a dining room. We use the breakfast room as an office and eat in the dining room, but you could easily do the opposite.

 

[Ronstar]

I third samclem's suggestion. It gives the op the flexibility use the room the way they want yet retain possible use as a dining room for a future buyer. We have a dining room - gets used one day a year. I only go in there once a year. I could use it for something else if I needed to.


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[W2R]

My last house had a large dining room, which I used as a home gym. It was great for that purpose.

Some people really need a formal dining room, but I don't. If you don't need one either, but are reluctant to omit a dining room for resale reasons, you could include one and use it for an office, home gym, or other purpose.

 

[harley]

My next house isn't going to have a dining room. Of course it's not going to have a formal living room or a foyer either. I think there's going to be a big market for 1 or 2 bedroom houses with a big den, big kitchen with eating area, and a big utility area and garage, all on one floor. Who needs all those rooms we never use. I'd love to build it and live in it for most of the rest of my life. I'm sure there'd be someone out there that would like the same concept and would buy it when I'm finished with it.

 

[samclem]

One home we rented had a big "bonus room" over the garage. Our family spent more time there than anywhere else. DW had her desk and craft items, I had my computer, desk, "comfy chair" in another corner, and DD had her desk for homework, being online, reading books, etc there, too. It wasn't in the main "flow" of the house, so it didn't need to be kept neat all the time, either. It was good for us.

 

[Rick_Head]

As the others have said, who knows.

 

[Midpack]

Depends on the size of the house for one thing. There are lots of homes under 2500 sqft being built these days without formal dining or living rooms. Most have one large kitchen-dining-family room - "open concept." A larger house would probably have to have formal dining.

Our formal dining room has become an off season sail locker. We sold the rosewood dining set a few years ago, just got tired of looking at it and never using it...room for more sails. We've been poaching furniture from our formal living room for a few years, it'll be empty eventually. Our next house won't have a formal living or dining room.

I know some people love to entertain family and/or friends in a formal dining room, but I also know a lot of people who have quit entertaining that way too. We'd rather meet our friends out at a nice restaurant, or a play, or a concert more often - and just for drinks at home occasionally. Can't remember the last time we put on a formal sit down dinner for guests at home. YMMV

 

[Gumby]

We have a formal dining room and we eat dinner in it every night, with the full complement of linen, silver and china. But I suspect we are unusual in this regard.

 

[Midpack]

We have a formal dining room and we eat dinner in it every night, with the full complement of linen, silver and china. But I suspect we are unusual in this regard.

My parents still do too. DW & I never. Times change?

 

[38Chevy454]

I agree a larger house it is still kind of expected.

Given that, I think formal dining room and formal living room are both a huge waste of space. I would rather have a great room for the family room area and no formal living room. Give the dining room space up for an office or similar use type area.

 

[Bestwifeever]

We actually have a small old house with a separate living room, a dining room, remodeled kitchen, and family room on the first floor. We love using all four rooms throughout every day starting in the living room in the early morning for coffee and online newspaper and ending in the family room in the evening with the TV. Dinners aren't as lovely as Gumby's but they usually are in the dining room, sometimes at the kitchen counter. Funny when we raised our kids the dining room was the homework center and the unremodeled kitchen had an old farmhouse table that we almost always ate everyday meals at . But great times with friends and family there, and it's so much more fun and easier cooking now vs the old kitchen that we often have friends over for an easy dinner.

Depending on your area and neighborhood and lifestyle, of course, having the separate space for a dining room might be nice--use it however it works for you now, and the eventual next owners can do what works for them.

 

[soupcxan]

We have a formal dining room and we eat dinner in it every night, with the full complement of linen, silver and china. But I suspect we are unusual in this regard.

Does Mr. Carson ring the dinner gong when it's time to eat?

 

[Sarah in SC]

We do sit at the table for dinner every night, but the good China and linens sit unused in the sideboard.

Open plan here, but I confess we built our house with almost no regard for resale value. It is perfect for us, though.

 

[rodi]

With the trend towards open concept/great room - I think you can omit a separate room for dining room these days.

We have 2 "open" spaces downstairs - a kitchen/family room and a living/dining room (L shaped). We use the dining room portion for formal meals (company over, or special meals)... our family room area has a large kitchen table in it (rather than a couch) - and it's where we eat every night and where the kids do homework. Most of our neighbors have a tv viewing area set up in the same space.

The dining room table is also used for other purposes - currently one end has DH's paperwork for the financial report on his mom that he has to submit, and the rest of the table was used to build and EV3 robot yesterday by my robotics kids.

 

[MichaelB]

We appreciate our separate dining room. We don't use it daily but we do use it frequently, and like Gumby, enjoy the linens, nice tableware, and rituals (I presume) that accompany it.

Going through DM's things last week, I found a small glass bell that was a 50th wedding anniversary gift for my grandparents. We will certainly use it the next time we have guests, and fondly remember those nice people.

 

[kcowan]

I am a big believer in The great room with kitchen, dining and living all in separate areas. 2 bathrooms and 2 other rooms, master and multi-use room (guest BR, den, exercise room...) Neither of my places has these.

 

[aaronc879]

I agree with others that if the house is fairly large and higher end then a formal dining room is expected. For me, I consider a dining room to be a negative. It's extra square footage(more expensive) of useless space. My condo does have a very small dining room with a table big enough for two chairs. In the 8 years i've been here I have never eaten at the table. I never ate at a dining room table as a child either. I eat on the couch in the living room or in bed.

 

[pb4uski]

I have never actually thought about it until now, but I have never lived in a house with a dining room. The house I grew up in had a large room that was a combination kitchen/dining area. Our first starter house had an eat in kitchen. Our last house has a kitchen/dining area and our current house has a great room that has a kitchen/dining area/living area.

In our neck of the woods, a dining room or dining area with a dining table and seating for 6 or 8 is expected, but a formal dining room is a bit of a dinosaur other than for higher end homes. We have friends who designed their lakeside home without a dining area or dining room (just a counter in the kitchen) and the lack of a dining area has been a negative in many buyers minds.

 

[Cobra9777]

My next house isn't going to have a dining room. Of course it's not going to have a formal living room or a foyer either. I think there's going to be a big market for 1 or 2 bedroom houses with a big den, big kitchen with eating area, and a big utility area and garage, all on one floor. Who needs all those rooms we never use. I'd love to build it and live in it for most of the rest of my life. I'm sure there'd be someone out there that would like the same concept and would buy it when I'm finished with it.

That's my thinking as well. We want 2 beds, 2 baths, on opposite ends of a 2.5ksf 1-story house, with a large open kitchen/dining/living space in between, plus a garage, shop, and utility room, on about 1 acre. We may have to build however. Our searches so far have come up empty. Most houses are built for families with 3 or 4 tiny bedrooms and other wasted space like formal living/dining. I think the market for what harley described is going to grow. But in our case, we'll build it and live in it until we're gone. Not too worried about resale value.

 

[Gumby]

Does Mr. Carson ring the dinner gong when it's time to eat?

What usually happens is that the young wife calls to me from the kitchen "You better get the table set. This will be done in three minutes".

I do think a meal is enhanced by the surroundings in which it is served. Our dining room has nothing else in it but a mahogany table, chairs and sideboard, some oil paintings on the walls and a fireplace. We set the table, dim the chandelier and, if it is winter and I think of it in time, sometimes lay a fire. The light glinting off of the wineglasses and the silver makes a nice, relaxing atmosphere, as does some nice dinner music drifting in from the stereo in the adjoining living room. We don't have to look at the dirty dishes and associated cooking clutter in the kitchen, and we can clear our minds, enjoy the food and talk to each other. Yes, it is more work to set the table and clean up afterwards, but I enjoy it.