Demise of the dining room

I hate eating anywhere but at a table. I actually damaged my throat when eating a nasty cheap bacon butty cramped up on a seat at the Eurostar terminus at St Pancras. The food got stuck in my throat and didn't clear until I got up and walked round. It left me with a sore damaged throat for about 4 months. so eating with a meal on my lap in an armchair or on a settee does not feature in my repertoire.

Usually we eat at the table in the kitchen, it will sit up to 8 at a push. For formal dining, Christmas, special occasions etc, we have a large sqare hall and our dining table and chairs live in there. the table gets used to put things on additional computer space etc etc and is very useful.

At our last house we had a lovely big dining room but it was rarely used as we also had a table in the kitchen, so it was a really wasted space most of the time. Our present house has a large kitchen with dining area which is far more practical for us. We prefer the informality of eating in the kitchen (no business associates to be entertained these days) and wouldn’t want to go back to having a separate dining room again, but it’s entirely a matter of personal choice and lifestyle isn’t it?

Always ate at the family table as a child. With our children, the same- except for Friday evening after swimming- when we got fish and chips or a kebab- and we ate on trays on lap.

Until very recently, we kept the tradition up, but now and then, will eat our supper on our lap and watch TV. Since we have retired, we have our main meal at lunchtime- about 1.30-2ish- and only a light supper.

My son and his girlfriend live with me and up to 18 months ago they just lived in one bedroom, I then decided to give up my bedroom so they could have a bedroom and lounge upstairs and I have converted my dining room into my bedroom, works fine for us just share kitchen and bathroom. I have done this because there is no way they can afford to rent anywhere ..

When it’s just us, we like to read at the table-a bit of a rebellion against childhood no reading at the table rules when my DB would say, “Mum, Molly is reading the cornflake packet!” just to stir up trouble.
Family meals always at the table, in the dining room, but I’m not averse to a tray on my lap-except that the dog sees it as an invitation!

We eat in the kitchen when only a small number, dining room 2-3 times a week. No trays, no tv during meals.

Oh, they do look lovely, and I'm sure they are great with young children coming and going ?.

I really don’t care for total open plan, Doodledog, but kitchen-diners can be intensely practical. Dd's house had just one fairly small living room and a kitchen - their kitchen-diner extension has utterly transformed the house.

I read a lot of ‘anti’ regarding bifold doors, and I did wonder about them at the time, but theirs make a lovely picture frame for the garden and given that they had a baby and an under 2 at the time, were - and still are - intensely practical - nothing to trip over when they were in and out on feet or tricycles.

Dd has them open a lot, even in winter - she’s a naturally ‘hot’ person, though!

I tend to snack in the kitchen rather than have main meals these days. Only do formal round the table stuff when family or friends are visiting.

I think that the combined rooms on the house renovation programmes look great, but they are all very similar, with large spaces opening onto a landscaped garden through bifold doors, a kitchen island with three pendant lamps above it and wooden or LVT flooring throughout.

I wonder whether when fuel bills rise the fashion will change back to having separate spaces that are cheaper to heat. My house will be back in fashion if that happens . I much prefer separate rooms so that families are not on top of one another. Communal spaces are a good idea for entertaining and for supervising little ones, but for family life with older children and teenagers I think separate spaces work much better.

We have a separate dining room it's rather quaint and intimate. Our children did their homework with me every night after school and had their tea there. We use the room for special meals and special occasions but it's not fully utilised in my opinion.
Our son designed and fitted our modern kitchen. He wanted to combine the two rooms I regret not letting him.
Both our son and daughter have large kitchen come dining rooms. Lovely communal spaces which make our house look stuffy and old fashioned.

We have a long living/kitchen/diner. The kitchen is at one end and the dining area at the other with the sitting area in the middle with a wood burner. We have two covered terraces, one with a largish table for meals and the other a sitting area with a coffee table. These are at either end of the house so where we sit/eat outdoors depends upon the time of day. At the moment it's too hot to sit outdoors.

Farzanah

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.?

Farzanah ?

As we did until we downsized from the mansion

Kitchen if it's just the two of us or perhaps just us and the DGC.

The dining room if the family comes over.

We both read at the table (unless guests), wh was banned in our childhoods, and large dining table at one end of the kitchen. The proper dining table and chairs from the proper dining room have long gone, and room now used as a study. Don't like trays on laps.

I've lived with a separate dining room, living/diner, kitchen/diner and open plan room.

The one I enjoyed the least was the house with the separate dining room. My favourite, by a mile, is the open plan (which we currently have). It's socially great for when family and friends are visiting or even just the two of us. We've never had any bad comments about the smell from food being cooked - quite the opposite really.

Our new home, currently being finished has an open plan room. This one has doors that open up to a large veranda area. We love to eat outside whenever possible and whether inside or out, we always eat at the table.

If I ever have a meal by myself, it's always at the table. There I can read a book or watch the TV.

We are a family of six including three children. Every meal is eaten in the dining room, though I admit that if the kitchen was big enough for a large table we would probably eat in there.

Farzanah

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.?

I was so tempted to say something similar . These threads always end up with a touch of competition about them, don't they?

I generally eat at the dining table but no longer possess a dining room.
Recently, bonus of hot weather, have eaten most meals outside on the garden table, even breakfast. Sheer delight.

We have a good sized dining room - the table doubles as my study/office/sewing up knitting table.

We generally eat at it when we have guests, not often otherwise. No proper kitchen table, alas, though dh and I both eat there - on a stool close to worktop. When it’s just me and dh for dinner we usually have trays on laps in the sitting room.
Or in summer, in the garden.

Every meal is always eaten in the dining room unless we decide to eat outside in the garden. We never ever eat from a tray in front of the TV and during a recent stay in hospital when I was bed-bound it was totally alien to me to eat meals in bed.

My side of the family follow the same habits too although OH's family just eat anywhere in the house, even a plated meal is often eaten sitting on the bedroom floor by his GC.

Thank you all for your interesting posts. Yes our dining table and chairs would be described as brown furniture. We have had it for years and it is solid oak and we love it. Do you remember the formal dinner parties in the 1970's/80's? when each hostess/host tried to outdo what you had cooked for them. These days our meals with family and friends are much more laid back, we usually go for two courses. Sometimes a simple chicken dish followed by a fruit crumble or maybe a spaghetti Bolognese then cheese and biscuits. All washed down with a lovely bottle of wine (or two)! For me it is all about good company and chat and not about how important the food is.

I find it uncomfortable to eat on my lap. I always eat at the dining table even if on my own.
I've never lived in a house with a kitchen big enough to be a kitchen diner.

My grandchildren come to us fairly frequently, they're with us now. On Sundays they demand a Sunday roast so it gets used then, or if we have friends stay over we'll have had a few before the summer ends, it's too hot for outside eating at the moment Other than that definitely at Christmas.

As a child we ate in the dining room, Saturdays I think my father would be listening to the football results on the wireless so no one could speak

We have a dining table that seats 6 in the conservatory, only used at Xmas or when grandsons come as its lovely to talk to them (no mobiles) and hear about their adventures. Otherwise it is two TV tables, bought from Ikea many years ago, in front of the tv in the kitchen with a nice meal and a glass of wine. Sorted. !