[MSG@TV]

Originally Posted by senior citizen

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.

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.

[LindaL]

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.

[senior citizen]

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.

[cquick]

Originally Posted by Dellie

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!

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.......

[batman911]

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.

[jimbo2012]

When does the wine tasting begin?

[mac9]

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

[gomoho]

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

[Happinow]

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.

[Tom Grooms]

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. :-)

[Francie]

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.

[pooh]

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.

[applesoffh]

Originally Posted by rockyisle

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.

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...

[Villages Kahuna]

Originally Posted by villages07

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 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.

[CFrance]

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.