We had 17 people over for Christmas Dinner and I came to one conclusion: our dining room is too small. It's perfect for 4-6 for dinner-very intimate. For a crowd, I'm glad we have a HUGE kitchen!
I'm not going to run out and go dining room furniture shopping any time soon. What I really want is counter seating for 10-12 in the kitchen (we have the room). All I'd need then is barstools. That type of set-up is more suited to our lifestyle anyways. We only entertain for a sit down dinner 4-6 times a year, the rest of our meals are mostly "on the go."
I have written before about the demise of the dining room in America. Too many folks have busy lives and the formal "sit down family dinner" is a big casualty. Most people are probably like us and only entertain for dinner a few times a year. With Real Estate being so expensive, devoting a lot of square footage to a room that's used a half a dozen times a year doesn't make sense.
So maybe there will be far fewer folks going dining room furniture shopping in the future. Just make sure you have plenty of counter seating!
Dining In
Dining Rooms are Out of Date
We NEVER use our dining room, unless one of the kids is doing homework at the dining room table. Our dining room is merely a pass through from the kitchen to the living room. The concept of formal dining room furniture is getting out dated as we have become more casual about eating meals together as a family. Someone is always going somewhere and we're often heating up leftovers for meals. Even when everyone is together for a meal, our dining room is too cramped and we end up eating in the kitchen since it has much bigger and more comfortable dining furniture.
If I had my way, I'd blow out the wall between the dining room and the kitchen and make the kitchen even bigger. I'd love to have counter seating for 12! That way, we'd just get a counter height dining table built right in. The only piece of dining room furniture I'd keep is a hutch my father built-it would go well in an informal setting.
I don't know who else feels this way, but if I were building a new house, I'd skip the dining room altogether and opt for a large "great room" kitchen instead.
Companies like Furniturefromhome.com ought to be aware of this growing mindset and adjust their dining room furniture offerings accordingly.
