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Formal Dining Room No Longer a Priority
By Carleton Varney- Special to the Palm Beach Daily News
The formal dining room these days has taken a back seat in the floorplans of many new homes. We often see an informal eating area by the kitchen, opening to the family room. In today’s homes — especially smaller houses and city apartments — the formal dining room has often morphed into a library, with a sofa, a television and card-table-style dining.
And even in new homes that have formal dining rooms, I’ve sometimes encountered floorplans where the room isn’t even remotely near the kitchen. I’m not sure how practical that is.
Although homes may still be stocked with all the silver, crystal, table linen and china needed for formal entertaining, the question remains: Are these items seeing regular use? Often not, I suspect.
I can’t say I’m surprised at the trend, especially in these days of the coronavirus pandemic, when so many of us have curtailed hosting dinner parties.
In addition to meeting the demands to today’s lifestyles, eliminating a designated formal dining room offers a chance for homeowners to get bigger bangs for their decorating bucks. High-quality custom-made dining chairs — with well-made coil-spring seats and upholstered backs — aren’t inexpensive by any means, for instance. Is it any surprise homeowners don’t want to squander assets on rooms that will see little use?
The lesson is to follow your own particular needs when designing your next home or renovating your present one. If hosting formal dinner parties is your thing — once the pandemic is under control, of course — then make your dining room a showstopper.
But if it’s not, work with your designer or architect to come up with an alternative that really puts the spaces in your new residence to their best use.
7 comments
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Daphne Dunn on
I can not imagine anyone living an elegant life without a formal dining room.
Thank god here in London dinner parties with my circle of friends is still very much alive, often four courses to get maximum use out of china and serving pieces.
We eat pizza in ours sometimes for fun too, and fondue also with all the candles lit and using our wedding china.
Sad sad sad when casual lifestyle overtakes the sense of occasion that one feels in a dedicated dining room!
PS I do not live in a huge house.
I still love my formal dining room, although it is not used as much as it once was. We used to have beautiful Saturday night dinners with our family and friends. Our home was designed with a very large dining room so that we might be able to accommodate many guests. You are correct in stating that the trend is going to an informal style of dining ,but I must say that I miss the table linens, the china, the crystal, the silver and the calming effect of a beautiful setting. I was fortunate to be able to acquire these absolute necessities for entertaining more than fifty years ago as my husband and I began our lives together. As I approach my twilight years, I find that my grandchildren have no interest in acquiring or using formal settings for anything and that also applies to the way they dress. I feel that the best customs of my generation are indeed lost . I had a little hope when “Downton Abbey” became a success, as I watched every episode and learned that it had a young viewing audience. But, alas, nothing happened. They say that if you live long enough everything is new again. I’m waiting.