Why there are less dining rooms in the American home

[@kristenverea3997]

We only have 2 people in our family but like the formal dining room because it’s pretty, you can’t see the mess from cooking dinner, and it has a nice view. It’s just calmer to eat in there and it sets a nice mood. That said, we typically use it for breakfast as we eat dinner in front of the tv. I think it’s just about making sure you use something more if you like it - the value goes up each time you show up.

[@adampretorius]

That’s so fun!! Glad to hear it when people are enjoying their dining rooms! 🎉

[@hereforit2347]

Personally, I LOVE a formal dining room. They’re great for entertaining, dinner parties, small birthday parties, not to holiday dinners. Older homes in California, even one-bedroom apartments, have formal dining rooms. Mine doubles as a work space where I can sew, paint, or make minor repairs to household items.

[@hemanshubahl3785]

Love this concept. Our house didn’t have a walk in pantry and we have a formal dining room that no one ever used in 12+ years of living there so we got rid of it and trying it into a pantry and scullery. I love your other video talking about kitchen zones. Great video. Would love to share my idea and get your thoughts on it!

[@adampretorius]

I’m noticing a growing trend of repurposing formal dining rooms to expand the kitchen space. In some cases, it’s about creating a larger kitchen overall-adding a bigger island or increasing cabinet storage. Other times, it’s transforming the area into a scullery or an oversized walk-in pantry. I have to admit, I’m envious of the scullery concept-it’s such a smart use of space! From my sales experience, this kind of addition is exactly what today’s buyers are prioritizing and willing to pay a premium for, making it a fantastic investment with great ROI.

[@Sandikal]

We use our "formal" dining room more now that we did when our kids were younger. We need the bigger table when we have our daughter, granddaughter, son, and son-in-law over for a family dinner. We've gone from a family of four to a family of six. When we have extended family over, we definitely need the space and end up with people eating both in the dining room and at the kitchen table. We bought our house in the late Eighties, so the "formal" dining room's furniture is really formal. We've just finished remodeling and are replacing the table and chairs with something a lot less formal. One of the advantages of our house is that it's semi-open floor plan means that we could use the dining room for other purposes if we just didn't need it for dining.

[@nathalieruncie2350]

We are finishing up our house which I designed to include a formal dining room. However, we do have an open floor plan and the dining room , while not separated by walls, is separated from the kitchen by an open hallway and large glass doors. The plan is to be able to use the dining room for special occasions when entertaining but also to be used on the daily basis by my three kids as the study room. From the kitchen I can monitor and help with homework. We call it the ( tongue in cheek) "Eaton" study room. Our home is just a hair over 3000sqft .

[@crystalandbensloane1842]

We are actually bumping out both our kitchen and dining room right now. We love hosting family, and we have a big one, and our dining room can only comfortably fit eight people, which is just not enough. Our new dining room will be long and skinny and we’ll have a long and somewhat narrow table in the middle of it. We are also building a porch off the dining room where we’ll have another large table for outdoor dining. Hosting and eating and then schmoozing around the table afterwards for hours late into the night is part of our lifestyle. We also host game night where we serve dinner and then play games at the table, so we’ll be able to fit all of our friends more comfortably. Design and style is very important to me, but I don’t care about the “formal” or “luxury” label. It’s about friends and family and lifestyle for me. :) I loved your run down on the history of the dining room! Thank you for sharing!

[@adampretorius]

Sounds like a great project and tailored towards your lifestyle--appreciate you sharing and the feedback! Best on your project and its exciting addition!

[@kensidickerson4188]

We have a table in our kitchen, as well as a dining room. We like to have people over so the extra seating is a must. We usually let the kiddos sit at the kitchen table and the adults sit at the “formal” dining table. That was the initial appeal of having an additional space for entertaining, but since then we’ve started homeschooling so now the “Formal” dining room also doubles as our homeschool space. So that’s been nice to have a dedicated table to do schoolwork at without having to clear the table off every time we have a meal. 😄 But it definitely would depend on the family dynamic as to whether it’s necessary or a wasted space. ☺️

[@christindavis4539]

we just finished our build with no dining room. Our laundry is in our master closet and our porch the same size as our living room kitchen area because we live where we can utilize it most of the year and would rather be outside

[@adampretorius]

Great feedback, best on your new home and it sounds like you designed every space with high utilitarian considerations

[@jayburris6252]

I really want a formal dining room. I don’t care at all if it’s rarely used. I think I will use it. I rarely leave my living room but I love walking past it and seeing things arranged as they should be.

[@homeloveeverything2932]

We have a big round dining table with 8 chairs in ours. We use it 3x/year for holiday meals. Our son and his friends use it often to play cards and other games. They’ve even dressed up like Knights and other Medieval characters at the table. It’s nice to finally put that room to use and it’s been fun.

[@MyVlogTherapy]

You did a great job on this topic. 👏🏽

[@juanad23]

Just got this in my recommended. So glad I found your channel, I hope you keep growing!!

[@adampretorius]

Thank you, welcome aboard!

[@katjafranczek7714]

The formal dining room is essential for the long arm ( quilting machine). My new home has no formal dining so I seriously considered using the ballroom sized master as the sewing room and sleeping in one of the 10x12 bedrooms.

[@Tom-ef7sr]

My house is 5,750 sq ft and the formal dining room has a pool table, an air hockey table and a skee ball lane.

[@adampretorius]

You’re following the trend, way to be ‘trendy’!!

[@ckm-mkc]

I would note that the reason for open-concept is not people's preferences, but rather builder preferences. By removing hallways, they can maximize liveable floor space in a smaller footprint, which in turn returns better margins. The downside is lack of separation, esp. with kids running around, which everyone suddenly realized when we were all stuck at home for months.... We eat in the "formal dining room" every night. Formal or not formal is really up to you. Whether it's usable or not is largely dependent on layout, all of our houses have had the 'formal dining room' right off the kitchen & living, and we've used them every day for breakfast, lunch & dinner.

[@maryburroughs9772]

We have an eat in kitchen but eat dinner in our "formal" dining room every day. That way, we can leave the kids homework and projects on the kitchen table and get away from the supper making mess in the kitchen.

[@adampretorius]

Multi-purposed the room, great feedback!

[@MesRevesEnRose]

I live in an old Victorian house in Dublin. The house was built with a big formal dining room and a tiny kitchen. So, we need the dining room if we have people over but it also doubles as a study.

[@ih2439]

The dining room falling out of favor also speaks to how the way we socialize has changed. I think people don’t have formal dinner parties as often as they did in the past (aside from holidays) so it’s kind of a waste of space to have a room that is used so infrequently. When considering the overall square footage of a home, people today also want to prioritize individual spaces for their children (as opposed to shared bedrooms) so that is probably where square footage is more likely to be allocated. On a separate note, your home is beautiful!

[@adampretorius]

Great insight, thanks for your comments! Plus extra bonus for complementing our home, it’s been a place of constant remodeling and updating!

[@BrayZap]

It's all about open concept kitchen, living room, etc all in one spot. A dining room is hard at social gatherings having people spread out trying to yell to eachother when in open concept everything is viewable

[@AngeloWelihindha]

Underappreciated perspective!

[@TamaraScott-t9s]

I think another reason formal dining rooms are disappearing is that Americans are having smaller families and that extended families are spreading out farther away from each other. The large get togethers are becoming more rare. What do you think? Not always the case but certainly a trend.

[@hereforit2347]

Most older homes have a breakfast nook AND formal dining room.

[@irenerubinetti2867]

When it was our home buying opportunity, I opted location (family friendly) and realistic budget. So I have eat in kitchen and no pantry. Even my foyer is a makeshift. We also don’t pay attention to “social status” as much as others to the point where we chew more than we could swallow.

[@suedowney5773]

love the history and makes perfect sense. and dining room still an important space, even if less popular. Maybe the formal china and silver sets can pass. Our family growing up ALWAYS sat at the dining room table. Even when teenagers. Now married with extra people the DR is a must as we are getting larger. And yes, holiday gathering seldom, but none the less, the space is needed. Can't fit 14 people in a breakfast nook. Our house must haves: Dining Room, Breakfast Nook, Island w/seating, Pantry, Mudroom, Foyer, 2 TV spaces, Master on main and an office (doesn't need to be big, just needs to be)

[@bjelfin]

I love my home, and the dining room is very nice. I love that it has a built in glass fronted china cabinet and one wall is a south facing window. However, it's not used much becsuse it isn't close to the kitchen - which is odd. When I first viewed this house I joked that they must have a maid or butler. It's around 25 steps from the large kitchen to the dining room! Also, my kitchen has a large island that can seat 3, and I have an extra large kitchen table that can easily seat eight. So the dining room gets very little use.

[@wittytech7288]

Haven’t used our formal dining room the last 10 years. Even when hosting, guests rather sit on the living room floor or eat from the kitchen counter top so that everyone can be in one place and socialize then to be stuck in a room that only fits 10 people.

[@iviaverick52]

Yes they are dead, and the television killed it. Dining rooms are only used for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. That's about it.

[@thenexthobby]

I had to build a bar because there are no taverns nearby. I had to build an exercise room because there are no parks, no gyms and riding a bike will get you killed by a car. I had to build a theater to support my subscription services. I needed a huge pantry to warehouse the food because Costco's prices are better than a local grocer's, amirite? And of course, why would I want to talk to friends or family when I eat? To LOOK at them when I speak! OMG, the horror. Far better to just watch TV instead. And never mind the fact that there's no dining room because I for sure needed the garage attached to the house. I mean, walk from car to house? Isn't that what the poors do?? OMG what if it rains!

[@sixty-six2991]

There is no reason it has to be rarely used. You don't have to wear a tux to eat in a formal dining room. You don't have to use expensive bone china, crystal, and sterling silver.

[@cheriwallin3512]

Unless the ceilings are vaulted why do builders insist on making kitchen cabinets not reach the ceiling? It’s a wasted storage space that is a huge dust and spider collector.

[@BrayZap]

Formal dining rooms make no sense to me, never liked them, and are just useless space. The open concept with living room, kitchen, etc all in one space is the best thing right now. I just built a new home this year and its kitchen, "breakfast area" which is basically dining room, and living room are all in one large area with no walls which is the absolute best. Also having dining rooms and areas like that downstairs usually take away from the bedrooms upstairs. I like having a bigger upstairs than most older houses with tiny rooms

[@a9p6m4]

I’m not a fan of most new homes. To me they are not truly built for families. And absolutely hate the open floor plans.

[@Fuzzmom903]

People don’t prioritize family dinners or formal entertainment anymore. If they did, a separate dining room would be a must. Setting the table, and room for everyone to actually sit while eating, at the same time, is becoming a foreign concept. It’s not always about glitz and glam, but about family traditions.

[@Richard-nd8km]

I thoroughly dislike open concept layouts and love my dining room. We don’t use it all the time, but it’s there when we need it. When we're entertaining, having a kitchen with pots and pans/dirty dishes in view is not my idea of gracious living. BTW the French word “foyer” is properly pronounced ‘”foy-yay” not “foy-yer”. Clearly you're American...

[@hereforit2347]

The question should be: ‘Why are there *fewer* and *fewer* dining rooms . . . ‘ What happened to our grammar? That should be the next question.

[@adampretorius]

If it was a question, yes :) If you're referring to the title, it was written as a statement!

[@hereforit2347]

@@adampretorius: (1) A statement can’t begin with “Why”. Just because you didn’t punctuate doesn’t mean it’s not a question. (2) The noun, “dining rooms”, is countable. Therefore, the adjective, “fewer”, should be used to describe it.

[@Alteasea]

I can’t stand the music. sorry, great topic, unwatchable video.