[CFrance]

We use our dining room. Plus I like the traditional look of a living room/dining room, even if it is an open room. Our nook, we use rarely. My husband will occasionally eat lunch there, or spread some paperwork out on the table, but so far we have used our dinging room and kitchen breakfast counter more than our nook. Now that we had the pantry built in that space, I am looking for a small, two-person table & chairs to go in there, but mainly for looks.

Many people have turned their dining room into a sitting room, but I feel in a great room, that would look a little strange to me, having two sets of chairs, sofas, end tables, etc. But that's just my opinion.

You just have to decide what your needs will be. We have company around holidays and have people over to dinner or lunch all year long. We have our lanai set up as a living area, not a dining area. I like having somewhere for people to sit and eat communally, and that's the dining room. I also like having a large buffet in there for dinnerware storage.