The New Intimacy

Does anyone feel a LIVING ROOM is a waste of space now???

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Contributor: Bignuf Bignuf
Homes used to have a FAMILY ROOM and a FORMAL LIVING ROOM. In todays day and age, folks tend to hang out in the kitchen and "family room" (ie, the location of BIG TV and games).

We have a formal living room with a large couch, a love seat, a recliner, a big fireplace, a grand piano and NO HUMANS. Just the dog, once in a while, when she wants peace and quiet. It is NEVER, EVER, EVER used. If we have guest, they may gravitate to a couch for ten minutes, then that is it.

It is, by far, the biggest room in our house and the MOST wasted space. Thus, I wonder, is a "formal living room" a relic of the past? Do you one? Do you use it? If you are looking for a house, would a HUGE "family room" without a second "formal living room" be a plus or minus to your purchase decision????
10/13/2011
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Contributor: DeliciousDrip DeliciousDrip
Yea, my living is hardly put to use !!! Everytime i have visitors they're either in my bedroom or the dining room! I don't mind though.
10/13/2011
Contributor: AngelvMaynard AngelvMaynard
Quote:
Originally posted by Bignuf
Homes used to have a FAMILY ROOM and a FORMAL LIVING ROOM. In todays day and age, folks tend to hang out in the kitchen and "family room" (ie, the location of BIG TV and games).

We have a formal living room with a large couch, a love ... more
I turned ours into an office where I work. Our most wasted room is our formal dining room. Huge pieces of furniture in there collecting dust. We eat in the kitchen or the family room. Our dining room may get used twice a year.
10/13/2011
Contributor: js250 js250
When the kids moved out we quit using the family room. We now use it as our hobby room, catch all room and library.
10/13/2011
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
Than why have it as a formal living room. Use the space as you see fit. Thats just kind of dumb on the house owners part.
10/13/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
My interior design degree taught my to use any space how I can. If I had a room that was used frequently as a formal front room, I'd keep it that way. But if it never got used, I'd convert it into something else. I mean, if it's the biggest room in the house, why not move the TV and all that into there and then have the back family room be something else?
10/13/2011
Contributor: Peggi Peggi
Our "living room" has both of our computers, his connected to the big screen for gaming. We have our couch and computer chairs. So, uh, we KINDA have a living room? And we do use it...but I don't think it classifies as a living room.
10/13/2011
Contributor: AndroAngel AndroAngel
I'd love to have a "formal living room" with a fireplace and everything. It'd be converted to the library/formal cuddle room pretty quick.
10/13/2011
Contributor: Diabolical Kitty Diabolical Kitty
We had a living room and a family room when I was growing up. I wish we had one now. I'd have so much fun having the extra space honestly.
10/13/2011
Contributor: Chilipepper Chilipepper
Don't have the luxury of a separate living room and family room - the living room is lived in, for sure.
10/13/2011
Contributor: Yoda Yoda
I think they are good to have when having people over. Unfortunately, so many people center their social events around the television, so living rooms get ignored.
10/13/2011
Contributor: Kkay Kkay
I don't have one. We really don't need that much space for just the two of us, and I have a tendency to get highly irritated by things I don't use. I think it might be kind of OCD- if I have something around that doesn't get used and I can't get rid of it, it causes constant frustration and can bring me to tears.

If I had a formal living room, it'd make it about three months before getting thoroughly cannibalized for more useful things. I could put a pottery wheel in there!
10/13/2011
Contributor: GravyCakes GravyCakes
i don't see the point in a formal living room. we don't even have one.
10/13/2011
Contributor: Illumin8 Illumin8
We don't have one, but I'd love to have a formal living room. Would love to have a space in the house that is used just for discussion and conversing, without the TV there.
10/13/2011
Contributor: ToyGurl ToyGurl
Quote:
Originally posted by Bignuf
Homes used to have a FAMILY ROOM and a FORMAL LIVING ROOM. In todays day and age, folks tend to hang out in the kitchen and "family room" (ie, the location of BIG TV and games).

We have a formal living room with a large couch, a love ... more
My hubby and I, at the moment, have 2 "living rooms". Only one in which we actually live in.

First living room: Partially attached to the kitchen. Two long couches, a HUGE big screen, a medium sized coffee table, a tall lamp, and an entertainment center made of dark red wood.

We're always in this room. When there's a party, this is the room we're all in. When we have guests.... this is the room we're in.

----------------------

Second living room: On the complete opposite of our home near the front door. There is currently one grand piano (like you!), one christmas tree (we put it up early), a few fake christmas gifts around the tree, a medium sized large screen TV, and two medium sized couches that are accompanied by two small marble coffee tables.

NO ONE is ever in this room. I spent the most time decorating it in comparison to all the other rooms in our home. The walls are painted nicely, the floor is made of a special tile, and I mop it probably once a week.

BUT... I don't think it's completely a waste of space. It's the first room you see when you walk in my home, so it sort of... sets the mood?
10/13/2011
Contributor: EJ EJ
Quote:
Originally posted by Chilipepper
Don't have the luxury of a separate living room and family room - the living room is lived in, for sure.
Same here.
10/14/2011
Contributor: hjtee hjtee
I've never ever had that sort of 'living room'. All my living rooms had a tv.
10/14/2011
Contributor: toxie m toxie m
My house has a living room and it's used constantly. We don't have a separate "family room"
10/15/2011
Contributor: Redboxbaby Redboxbaby
I usually require a living room or a dining room space, either one really. I don't care which it is; it becomes our office.

Now since we remodeled our home, we have a huge eat-in, gourmet-style, chef's kitchen with an attached family room (when you walk in our front door we have no walls in the main part of the house - 1300sq ft between the kitchen, office area, foyer space, and family room), it's all wide open.
10/15/2011
Contributor: Errant Venture Errant Venture
We live in a small house, so our living room is well used. We don't even have a family room. We have a Man's Room, though.
10/15/2011
Contributor: Sekhmet Sekhmet
I have a Victorian style; a formal living room on one side that we rarely if ever use and then the "regular" living room. I like the idea because I collect/restore period furniture and this allows me to keep it in heirloom condition for my daughter. The other room is where my dogs are allowed to go, beverages and food. I was also lucky enough to have a bar room/man cave where we spend the most amount of time, as we have the tv in there. My grandmothers home was the same way, she had it literally roped off though, at least I have pocket doors.
10/15/2011
Contributor: TameTemptress TameTemptress
We have a living room and a family room, but we use both. Our living room is more of a grown up space, no toys allowed, it's always nice and tidy, haha. We do have a tv in there and we use it often. Our family room is more kid friendly.
10/15/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
We live in a house that is almost 100 years old. There were no "family rooms" back then. We use our living room for everything from hanging out, to watching TV, to playing games, to eating sometimes (when the bills overwelm the dining room table) to even occasional sex, when the kids aren't in the house.

I have always lived in old houses and love living rooms! In Chicago, we call them "Front Rooms" or "Da Fronchrum"

"Hey, Joey, get yer books outta the Fronchrum, we got two-tree people comin' for dinner! Youse kids know dat room is for company!"

10/15/2011
Contributor: Princess-Kayla ♥ Princess-Kayla ♥
Our family room is our living room.
10/15/2011
Contributor: P'Gell P'Gell
We don't have a "family room" in our house. We do have a Home Library though. I insisted, when we bought our second house that we have a room that could be used as a library. As ours is an old bungalow that the previous residents put a full 4 bedroom, full bath upstairs onto what was an old attic. We use the downstairs rooms, which used to be bedrooms for other things. One is "the foyer to the bathroom" (it's where I keep my lactation stuff and our china and crystal and it collects junk like crazy) and the other old bedroom has access through the kitchen and back porch breakfast room into the home library.

It contains two desk top computers, two printer-fax machines, our modems and has hand made shelves and bead and board pine siding (compliments to My Man, who did the entire thing with his own two hands) where we keep about 50% of our books.
10/15/2011
Contributor: ToyBoy ToyBoy
For me, yes. The only part of the house we use is bedrooms, bathrooms, and the kitchen. Everything else is a waste for me.
10/15/2011
Contributor: Bignuf Bignuf
Quote:
Originally posted by DeliciousDrip
Yea, my living is hardly put to use !!! Everytime i have visitors they're either in my bedroom or the dining room! I don't mind though.
Visitors hang out in your bedroom? I BET you are young...now that I think of it. That is a young person thing. Just guessing here.
10/15/2011
Contributor: Bignuf Bignuf
Quote:
Originally posted by Princess-Kayla ♥
Our family room is our living room.
That makes sense. I am speaking about houses that have BOTH. From about the 1930's to the early 2000's, most houses, except small "tract" houses, had both.
10/15/2011
Contributor: Bignuf Bignuf
Quote:
Originally posted by TameTemptress
We have a living room and a family room, but we use both. Our living room is more of a grown up space, no toys allowed, it's always nice and tidy, haha. We do have a tv in there and we use it often. Our family room is more kid friendly.
Ours is always "nice and clean". No one is ever in there but the dog.
10/15/2011
Contributor: Bignuf Bignuf
Quote:
Originally posted by hjtee
I've never ever had that sort of 'living room'. All my living rooms had a tv.
I would love to do that...except, there are open space/columns on one side (the part open to the house, total windows on the other side, then the two solid walls are a huge fireplace (very tiny bit of wall on each side...no place for a TV and even if there was, it would be very much in a wrong place to sit in front of...tucked hard in a side) and the wall opposite the fireplace is all BUILT IN BOOKSHELVES. Put a TV there, and it means the CHAIRS are all "backward" to the fireplace, and there is a wet bar in the middle of the bookshelves too, so that the TV would again be in a VERY odd spot. IN short...the room is really designed to simply sit around/talk...whatever . Something we just DON'T have use for.
10/15/2011