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So, it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room – specifically the dining room. And, honestly, the elephant isn’t the problem; it’s the dining room. It’s finally time to broach the taboo and mildly scandalous question: are dining rooms dated and useless?
I know what you’re thinking: how DARE you!? Every home isn’t complete without a dining room!? Where will my family gather to share our day? Where will we have holiday gatherings?! Calm down…my goal here isn’t to disarm the nuclear family we’ve had spoon fed to us from The Brady Bunch all the way up through…whatever sitcom is all the rage now. My point is, times are changing and unless you can afford to purchase a 4000+ square foot home that has space galore, then it’s time to think about maximizing space!
I work in an area where historic homes are pretty common and were built with space designated for a dining room, but here’s the problem: many of these homes fall between 800 to maybe, if the buyer is lucky, around 1500 square feet. That is NOT much space at all. If you are having a hard time visualizing this, let me give you a quick tour: walk into a small living area which will flow into the dining area which then leads into the kitchen. Upstairs will house two bedrooms and the one and only bathroom in the house. If the house falls on the larger end of the range I mentioned earlier, there may be an additional bedroom or even a half bath downstairs. My point is, space is not a luxury in these homes and let’s be honest: buying a home is one of the most significant and largest purchases you will make in your life so you should be able to enjoy ALL of it! So what’s my beef with the dining area?
So I recently took a very scientific, well-researched poll *cough* on Instagram *cough* and got the following data: 17% of the individuals polled claimed they used their dining room five or more times a week, 17% said one to two times, and a resounding 67% responded with “What’s a dining room?”. So over 80% of the people questioned admitted that their dining room operates as negative space. Again, it was an informal poll, but what I can also tell you is that I’ve worked with a lot of buyers who have gone into these small homes with the same thought: “well, what do we actually need a dining room for?” Exactly!
I can tell you from personal experience that my dining room table – which is this lovely reclaimed industrial piece that my husband and I bought when we graduated from IKEA furniture. It’s a stunning piece of furniture that we are honoring by using as, but not limited to, mail dump, Amazon package dump, wrapping paper table, staging ground for holiday decorations, miscellaneous random crap dump, and something to take up space so no one walks into the dining room chandelier. We’ve had the table for over ten years, and I can honestly say, it has been used – for EATING – maybe two dozen times. So, for owning something for over 3,650 days and having used it – and I’ll be generous – maybe thirty times, seems like it’s not getting its full potential.
Ok, Ryan, then what am I SUPPOSED to do with that space?!
Great Question. And the answer is, a lot! Let’s talk about those options.
The first, most obvious, and lucrative: if possible, expand the kitchen. Large islands, breakfast bars, and nooks are becoming all the rage now. Think about it: when you go to a party, where does EVERYONE congregate – the island. Breakfast bars and islands offer ample seating, and still offer a place to meet and socialize. But the biggest kicker to expanding and updating your kitchen: MONEY. What sells houses – bathrooms and kitchens!!! You don’t walk into a house and gasp “Oh my, what a lovely dining room! I’ll pay over asking for it!”. No! The take-your-breath-away moment comes when you walk into a newly remodeled kitchen, filled with new stainless steel appliances, a five foot granite island with matching countertops, and seating for five. So what if the new kitchen isn’t an option? There are plenty others.
Turn it into another media room. Perhaps a game room. Office space. A playroom for kids. A lounge. Find a way to install another bathroom downstairs. A gift wrapping room. A speakeasy. Another bedroom. A pantry. Whatever. The possibilities are endless.
The point is, you bought and paid for the space, so don’t waste it! And just so we are clear, I’m not the only unhinged lunatic who has ventured down this road. Check out these awesome dining room remodel ideas here, here, and here.
