Should You Include a Dining Room in Your Custom Home?
Over the years, the need for a dining room has diminished more than any other room of the house. More than 25 years ago, almost every single home we worked on would include a study on one side and a dining room on the other. Everyone had a beautiful dining room where they would invest in furniture to display their gorgeous China. Over time, however, we realized that this was a lot of unnecessary square footage—in other words, it was a lot of money just for someone to walk past it and rarely use it.
So, should you include a dining room in your custom home or not?
In a word, no. However, it’s not that simple, and it totally depends on your lifestyle. If someone comes to Springhouse and wants to include a dining room, we don’t automatically think you’re ridiculous or wasting your money. In fact, at this moment in time, we’re working with 15 clients—half of them want a dining room, and the other half don’t. Let’s briefly walk through a few considerations when deciding on a dining room.
How to Determine Whether You Need a Dining Room
At Springhouse, we usually sit down with our clients to ask a few key questions. Instead of asking them whether they “need” a dining room—because, let’s face it, you can always sit at your island or kitchen table—we go over some considerations, like: If you have a dining room now, how do you use it?
There are so many different answers to this question. The most typical one is that twice a year, the client invites at least eight people to sit around the table and use their China. So, we usually follow up with a few deeper questions: Do you love that? Is that something you look forward to most in the entire year?
For many, a dining room isn’t necessary at all. We helped a client of ours turn their dining room into a mudroom, which houses all their kids’ sporting equipment, coats, bags, dirty clothes and shoes. Their hallway mudroom wasn’t serving them, so we moved some non-load-bearing walls, and that became a huge mudroom—which ultimately changed the way they live in their home. It also changed how they feel when they walk through their home, which is now free of clutter and kid junk. They don’t miss their dining room at all!
You don’t need to completely eliminate your dining room—you can simply repurpose it. Many homes are missing a quiet space to get away, or a space to take someone to visit with you. Traditional homes often include a living room, study or dining room, but with the rise of open floor plans over the years, it’s hard to get away. Where do you go to curl up and read a book? To escape after a long day?
Different buzzwords are popping up in the design community these days like “away rooms” or “cozy rooms.” The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we operate in our homes, and we need some quiet spaces now more than ever. A space that envelopes us. A space where we can close the door, or a spot where the ceilings are a little lower. Maybe it’s tucked around the corner, or a place for your kids to paint, play games, or hang out with friends. A space for your life.
Your Living Space Should Fit Your Lifestyle
If you’re considering what to do with your dining room, think about your activities. What are you currently using your dining room for? Is it an unused room? A place where you store wrapping paper on the table? If that’s the case, you don’t need this space. Get rid of it! If you use that space for something else, design it for that purpose. Let's design it for how your family is going to change through the years.
The bottom line? Do what you want, but think it through. Remember: It's your custom home. Make it work for you.
Have any questions?
Although we covered a lot in this post, you may still have some other questions about repurposing or eliminating your dining room. Whether you’re involved in the custom home process now, or even just considering it, join our free Facebook group—we’ll help you answer any questions you might have! Also, feel free to invite anyone that you think would benefit from this collaborative. You’ll not only get advice from me, but from other people who have been through this, too.
Start the process.
When it comes to designing and building a custom home, nothing beats having a trusted, experienced team of architects on your side. Let’s set up a call to meet, discuss your goals, answer your questions, and settle your fears. We can’t wait to meet you!