What to do with dining room?
 

Dear Future TV Friends... We are going through the decision making period (yikes!)... Not thinking we're going to use three-four "dining areas" that many models seem to feature (formal, nook, breakfast bar, and lanai), what do folks do with the formal dining space? Make that a seating area? Office space? Other? In advance, thank you for helping us with a little more information!

There are really no separate dining rooms. The dining area is just a part of the living room, or kitchen. I imagine you want a place where 6 people can sit down to dinner, so that's what you use it for.

We felt we didn't need a formal dining room so we made it an extension of the living room. Our house is shaped like an L so we put a sleeper sofa, and a couple of easy chairs in this area. The other part of the L is our tv area. In addition we put a solar light in the area to lighten it up as there are no windows in that part of the house. Works for us.

John

why not just build one of the models that doesn't have the nook and dining room? I agree that most of the models have way too many dining areas (breakfast nook,dining room, stools at counter, table in lanai).

I'm planning a Home Theater in that area, I agree waste of space for dinning.

Not as elaborate as this, but that's the idea

We use our nook for breakfast and lunch. Occasionally we'll use our lanai table for dinner and definitely for parties. We use our dining room table that seats 6 for dinners when we have guests over or for cards or board games. The weather isn't always perfect to use the lanai table, but sometimes it is! We use all three.

Been here since January. We own a Lilac, and use the "nook" exclusively. I think I'm going to do a seating area of some sort, but it's still blank, and looks dumb...at least I have a place for my Christmas tree this year!

Made A Library-TV Room In A Lantana
 

Put bookcases all along one wall, replaced the light fixture with a fan, hung the flat screen on the wall, and made it a library-TV watching space.

That is exactly what I was thinking, we are planning on using our 'nook' for all the meals, lanai when weather permits. I've been trying to come up with a solution for the 'dining' space, since I am selling my dining room suite and hutch here before we move..... LOVE the Christmas tree spot : )

Kahuna.... I believe we have the same model. Do you also have a TV in the original living room area where the sliders go out to the lanai? How do you use that space?

Like others, I have a large dining room table and china hutch in the dining room that sits unused except for maybe 2 dinners a year and poker night twice a year. Someday I hope to repurpose that space to make it more functional.

We've always had a formal dining room up north, but I definitely would do away with it in The Villages.

The "Nook", the breakfast bar and the lanai area for meals would be enough.

The first home we stayed in had a formal dining room off the entry foyer; I would make that another seating area.........really liked JIMBO'S HOME THEATRE IDEA. That's what our "kids" and "grandkids" would enjoy, for sure.........plus us.

That same home on Merryweather Way, had a formal dining set in the area I just mentioned plus another such set in the dining area adjacent to the kitchen (it wasn't a nook)......with sliders to the lanai plus more sliders from the living room area to the lanai.

That model would do perfectly fine with one dining table indoors and one on the lanai.

People eat more casually than they did when we were newlyweds and raising our families.

The second home we rented for a month (with the columns between the kitchen and the dining area which did have a beautiful formal dining room set)........however, I would use that space for MORE SEATING.....of which you can never have too much.

That house did have a "nook" at one end of the long kitchen with a front window.........plus the stools off the open breakfast bar......plenty of space for the grandkids.......who can climb up that high. Those of us with short legs or arthritis would do better at the table.

We really liked the first model with the dining space immediately off the kitchen with sliders to the lanai (rather than in front of the house).

Anyway, I no longer would want a formal dining room table.
Been there, done that. Would downsize to one indoor table.

Forgot to mention we R building a Whispering Pine

In the sketch below U can see the screen towards the bottom and the seating area near the top of the dining area.

Another concept drawing, can't fit two rows in but it shows I think a great re-purpose of the space, all I need to do is add :popcorn:

The same equipment can feed TV's in any other rooms which can show cable tv, movies or for the grand kids - games.
Of course speakers (usually ceiling) in any rooms you wish kitchen, bath, bedrooms or even the garage plus outdoor speakers in the lanai.

budget is <$5K

http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/...ackandside.jpg

I'm so happy to read that many feel as we do about the dining area. We turned it into a quiet reading area. Replaced the lighting with a fan and light combination, purchased a corner heated fireplace. Put a love seat and coffee table in the area and use it for a quiet place to read. It's one of my favorite spots in the house.

That also sounds like the perfect "sanctuary" for reading, resting, etc.

Often times the formal dining room rarely gets used nowadays.
As long as there is one table for meals........in my humble opinion, that is enough......plus the lanai table.

I'd rather have the extra seating which I know you will enjoy.

Love the fireplace addition......
Did you get one of those electric fireplaces or a gas fireplace?

We have a traditional woodburning fireplace with exterior red brick chimney in Vermont......I'd like to change it over to a "gas" fireplace as an alternate source of heat if our power goes out........and ditch the three cords of wood out back.

Our other home in Vermont had the traditional living room fireplace plus a Jotul kitchen woodstove on a hearth plus an oil furnace and companion woodburning furnace in the basement........plus a Jenn Aire Electric grill in the great room..........so we were set for all kinds of weather in the event of an Arab oil embargo..........back then.

Now, I think primarily of HEAT if we lose our electricity......as the oil furnace won't kick on............but we at least could burn wood....or use the propane gas for the gas fireplace (think it has a battery backup if the electric goes out).

So many people up here began using pellet stoves after the heating oil went sky high last year.......but we still like the convenience of just raising the thermostat to burning wood all over the house.

Again, your Florida sanctuary sounds IDEAL.....enjoy it.

Both sets of photos (earlier post and this one) are AWESOME.
Our son and his wife did the same thing in Colorado.

Your home will be very welcoming for big sports events and great movie viewing, etc.

Are you sure you are not Tony Soprano?? Remember his theater room?
He started a craze.........but it's a great use of space....and comfortable.

Wish we had one.

We had the same feeling. I do not want to take my formal dining room to TV. Our sales rep showed us the Aspen model which has one large living area and the nook off the kitchen is rather large. Another thing we were considering was to turn the dining room into a sitting room/library. My husband has a ton of books which I was hoping we'd part with prior to the move. In the end, we are going with neither of those choices, but I thought each was a solution worth considering.

Like the Aspen model
 

We also like the Aspen for the same reason... no dining room. Use the money instead to add a golf cart garage. Something much more useful in the villages. :clap2:

Seems like the old saying "great minds think alike" on the no need for a formal dining room.........all the suggestions show that everyone is on the same page.

I'm dreading right now having to take out all my "stuff" from the dining room china cabinet to put through the dishwasher......wouldn't miss it at all.

Years ago, everyone gave young engaged couples sterling silver and fine china, etc. Now they really don't even want the stuff......but if we gift it anyway, it's just going to collect dust.****** Those who do put it on their bridal registry, never use it.

They love the artisan type pottery type dishes and serve wear from Crate and Barrell and Pottery Barn, etc.......California style dining is really big all over now.

***We learned when we came to Vermont in 1970 that "less is more" and a table set with crystal and silver and china was not at all in fashion up here. We've become a creature of our adopted state.

Since all the "elders" are now deceased.........when we entertain, it's usually the 30 somethings, the 40 somethings and all their children.........and their 30/40 something friends with their children who use our place as a meeting zone....

So buffet service, over formal sit down meals........casual dining on the deck or back screened in porch........or eating in the living room by the fireplace , casually, is what we all do now..........this is why I truly WOULD NOT BRING MY DINING ROOM SET. Yet, one still does need an all around serviceable table.

We built a Holly....NO formal dining room....but we use the "dining nook" all the time. There is a semi-dining area in the kitchen by the desk, but we don't use it at all.......

We plan to stretch the nook area to hold a full size table and chairs. Also want to replace the sliders with windows in that area (Ivy model). I'm thinking wine cellar in the previous dining area.

When does the wine tasting begin? :MOJE_whot:

:wine:

The dining area in a Gardenia is perfect for a pool table!

Maybe the builders will take note of the fact that most of us don't really want a formal dining room

Sitting area
 

Hi. We also did not feel the need for a dining room so we made it a sitting room. We put an electric fireplace in the room as well. I use it a lot this time of year as the mornings are cool. I turn on the fireplace and put my feet up with a cup of coffee in the AM. Love the space it has become.

We didn't need all the dining space and turned the nook in our Begonia into a desk/office space. I'm a home theater guy and did the 7.2 audio system in the great room and a two channel listening room/sitting area/man cave in the den. :-) Attachment 6401

65 Million!!

Check out that statistic. This is how many people will be working from home in 2016 that currently are not working from home today. I know most in TV are retired, but many are not. I would think the builders should be considering "flex space" and offer a closed off den/office/craft room, etc in exchange for much of the extra dining square footage that they are building today.

It's really nice to see all the different options for a room that probably won't be used for formal dining. We have a Lantana and kept our dining room as a sort of dining room. Just before we moved we had bought a "gathering" table...you know, one of those taller tables, for our kitchen. It opens to a 54 inch square and that table is now in the dining room and has become a table of all trades. I use it for crafting, sewing, as a game table....8 fit comfortably at it, among other things and every once in a while, dining. It is far from formal, that's just not me, but it is extremely useful and used often.

Love it!!! I replaced the light fixture with a fan during our design meeting, but I should have waited and done it after the move-in. I like the dining area fixture more than the one in the nook. Oh well...

Both Ways
 

We have the "living room" portion of the large front-to-back living space in our Lantana furnished with two sofas facing one another with a cocktail table between them, just inside the sliders. We have had the TV in that area, but recently did some modest re-furnishing of the "dining room" area, with casual chairs, side ables and lamps, and the big screen mounted on the wall.

We have a Begonia, no posts. We still have a condo in MI (gorgeous summers/horrendous winters), so no dining room table down here yet as it's still up there.

In the few months that we've been here, we've had to beg card tables (thank you, Kaye) in order to have people over for dinner. I really miss having a dining room table and feel that we have adequate seating space (living room, lanai, den) and don't need any more of that. We eat at the kitchen counter, but who wants to invite people over for dinner and seat them along a counter? (The nook is too small for entertaining IMO.)

Also, the Begonia without posts (which I didn't want posts) is a big open space, and I feel it would look awkward to have two separate living rooms in one big room with no architectural separation.

I can't wait to get dining room furniture down here. I am negotiating with our son for the return of what he considers to be his "childhood dining room table" (a really cool pine thing handmade by a bunch of drunks for Pier One in the '70s--it's warped), which he is storing right now because their new house can't accommodate it. Putting a hitch on the car as we speak. Have to have it refinished. Promised him he could have it back some day.

I guess we all have different lifestyles and needs. I didn't think I would miss having a dining room, but I do, I really do.

You have excellent taste. It looks so serene and inviting.
Much better than an unused "dining room" section.

Love the white cabinets and white furniture , as well as the fireplace.
Gives off a bright and light Key West kind of ambience. Great color scheme in general.

Beautiful. Great use of those columns, as a room divider.

So, you ended up with one big GREAT ROOM.......as your main living room is across from that space, right?

March 2013. I'm trying hard to "liquidate" my current inventory before the big move.

Nice play on words,

by the way if you can't liquidate before moving send what you can now so we can help.

I don't know how to post a picture, BUT we put a bar in the dining area of our lantana. As my daughter said, hit the door, hit the bar, hit the lanai. We love it and have had many compliments on the use of the area.

I really don't believe that we are in the minority when utilizing our dinning area with a fully extended dinning room table throughout the year. common folks somebody out there has formal dinning, a gourmet club, poker night???????

It is one large room, but they have two distinct looks. The other room has a tv, sofa and two chair with a large end table and has a nautical theme. We chose a large sailboat picture for above the sofa and a glass sea turtle, glass octopus oil lamp with shells and floating candles for the large table. We use it for watching tv. Thank you for your wonderful compliments about our fireplace area. please look for pics of the living room on another post. Can't attach to this one.

Living room pics
 

This is our living room which is across from the "sitting room" with the fireplace. We have a Gardenia so the space is open. Sorry, but the pics didn't load.

Living room pics
 

Hopefully these pictures post....

Larger lanai/no formal dining
 

I think that if you have a larger lanai, then a formal dining room may not be needed because you can use that outside space for dining and entertaining. Hopefully the weather cooperates!

We are not dining room users soooo...
 

previous owner already changed what should be a dining room to a library/TV roohttp://i979.photobucket.com/albums/a...lhjouse001.jpgm which works for us...Here is a pic.