Demise of the dining room

When the first lockdown came in, we decided to abandon eating on our laps in front of the TV and actually enjoy the food and talk to each other. That has stuck. We eat at the table in the kitchen, or if the family are round, in the dining room, set with rather better cutlery, cystal glasses and flowers.

When on my own, I eat off a tray on my lap. If anyone else is with me, including GC, always at the table. 2 friends and I cook for each other, turn and turn about each week. We do the "fully laid table" with full cutlery, glassware, napkins etc to make it more of a treat for ourselves and each other.

We have always eaten at the table in the dining room. I think I’d get indigestion eating off a tray on my lap ?

We always eat at the table. We had a kitchen table for everyday, and we have a dining room for when we have visitors.
Our kitchen table is now in the living room as we have bought a new American style fridge freezer and there is now not enough space for it.
Fortunately our living room is huge.

We have a large kitchen with a table that sits eight comfortably and ten if they squeeze up a bit in the middle of the kitchen.

We always eat dinner in the evening there, but usually only eat lunch there if we have visitors.

In our flat we had got to the stage of never really using the dining-room, so when we moved house we decided against furnishing a room as a dining-room.

We always eat breakfast in the Dining Room. Sunday lunch too and any other meal where at least one more person is in attendance. Otherwise OH and I eat off trays in the lounge.

Instead of a lounge/diner when I had a lovely table etc I now have a kitchen /diner and I recently got rid of the two bar-type stools. I no longer entertain, we go out so I have my evening meal on my lap watching TV.

We still use our dining room every day, especially for our evening meal.

We had every meal in there when the children were young, so they learned that food isn’t eaten on our laps in front of the tv!

We have a dining room, but it doubles as a second sitting room, a ‘study’ and even a library (ie there are several bookcases in there), so it works hard. Mr Dog is winning his battle to get a TV in there too.

When we are eating separately, which we usually do for lunch, we eat off laps/trays, but we usually sit at the table for dinner and when we have people over. The kitchen table usually has too much mess on it to use regularly, and anyway I don’t like eating on top of dishes, and I would never tidy up before sitting down to eat.

I like having a separate room (as opposed to open plan), but we have never used it exclusively to eat in. If/when we do get a TV in there, I will try to insist that it doesn’t go on when we are eating though.

We have a large kitchen and DH and I sit at the table there to eat. At one end of our living room we have a table which extends to seat twelve. Usually we have our computers each end of this, but Christmas or when we have lots of visitors we eat there. Much easier in the kitchen though

I think it's a lovely idea for families to sit round the table, eating together and talking to each other.

But I think one of the reasons many don't, is because they just don't have the time. If both parents are working, there's a hundred-and-one things a mother / father have to do when they get home in the evening. Feeding the family is just one more job on the list...

We nearly always eat at the table in large kitchen/diner, whether or not we have company. I can't eat comfortably with plate or tray on lap - always drop something down my front!

We always used the dining table for meals and I still do, even though there’s only me now except when the family come round. I can’t eat off a tray, though DH was quite happy to if there was some sports thing he couldn’t tear himself away from.

My dining room hasn’t been used since Christmas ‘20, when 3 households could get together. Since then DH has died, so if I have family, plus little ones now, we eat at the kitchen table, mainly because the floor is tiled.

I’ve never lived in a house with a separate dining room since I left home, always a kitchen/diner. We use that area if we have visitors or family in the winter, the summer, if clement, we’re outside.
MrJ and I have lap trays or outside.

I have and use a dining room, I also have a table in the conservatory and which one I use depends on how I feel. I have french doors between the kitchen and conservatory and also the lounge and conservatory which are usually all open.

We have a dining room which we eat all our meals at, except this time of year when we have our evening meal in the conservatory.

Actually, not at the moment as it’s too hot in there! We have an air conditioner but don’t feel justified in using it, waste of electricity.

Never fancy eating off a tray, but we like our evening meal early, then go into the sitting room to watch the news.

Our housekeeper eats in the kitchen. We eat breakfast in the morning room, the dining room for lunch, and the dining hall for dinner with visitors.?

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We have a formal dining room?and a much more relaxed dining kitchen.
We rarely use the dining room and since the good weather the kitchen table has been a dumping ground as we eat outside on the deck.

I intensely dislike kitchen/diners! I don't want to sit down to eat in the room where the meal was cooked.
We have, and use, a separate dining room, with most of our meals being eaten in there, even though it's usually just the two of us.
There are two armchairs in there too, and my late DF's desk is in the corner, alongside a very lovely Walnut Chiffonier, which was one of our first 'good' antiques.
The dining table is a circular tilt top, but it's never tilted. It's also Walnut, and beautiful, so is only covered with a cloth at mealtimes.
We eat outside when the weather's suitable, yesterday evening was glorious, the patio nearest to the house had been in shade for a couple of hours and was wonderfully cool, we sat out there for ages enjoying the coolness.
We're having an Orangery built in a couple of months, just waiting on the builders, so we'll probably eat in there a lot in future.

Much the same as us Farzanah, except that the housekeeper eats in the kitchen with all the other servants. As it should be, of course!

I love your rug, Sago! Our dining table is currently piled with childrens’ games, jigsaws, pictures etc. We are eating outside now as the sun has gone round the front by evening. I love these late alfresco meals.

We inherited a beautiful oak table which extends to sit 12 and dining chairs which I had reupholstered but we never use them. We have a dining hall in the centre of the house but we always eat in the kitchen or the conservatory even when we have people over for a meal. If it's warm we eat outside. I just can't persuade myself to accept that I'll never use them. I'm told that "brown" furniture is coming back into fashion so perhaps dining rooms will too.

From childhood I always ate at a table in the dining room. We did the same with my own children.
When I was eventually on my own I hated eating alone at the table so I do eat in front of the TV now.