Is the kitchen REALLY the heart of the home?

M

Meanderer

Supreme Member
Poll suggests dining room declining in popularity and living room replacing kitchen as most popular room in the home. How would you define the "heart " of your home?
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I have a kitchen, but it's too small to be usable for anything except food prep. My sitting room is where I am most of the time when I'm not working. On DD's side of the house, living room? That's a joke. It's rare that any of them use the living room except to pass through on their way out the door. They all gather in the kitchen to load up their plates, then take them back to their bedrooms. When they're done eating, the kids might or might not take their plates back to the kitchen. If they do, they don't bother to scrape/rinse/load in the dishwasher; they just leave them in the sink. If they don't take their plates back to the kitchen, they just leave them on the floor and wait for DD to collect them when she cleans. When SHE cleans? Yes. After all, one can hardly expect a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old to clean their own rooms:rolleyes:
 
Our kitchen is small, I would say the lounge/sitting room is the best[and comfy ]bit of the house, also the conservatory, to chat with a cup of coffee or glass of wine.
 

I think the heart of our home is the bedroom, lol. That's where we can spend hours, as the television with the cable connection is in there, and there's only myself and hubby. Our kitchen is small too, just used to cook food and eat it, then we leave the room. I never lived in a home with a dining room, but from what I noticed from other people's homes, it's a room that is rarely used, except for large family get-togethers for the holidays...if they even do that type of thing.
 
I hate the multi-purpose rooms in today's modern homes. Our living room was at one time the parlour, with pocket doors. (before our time) and was probably used only on special occasions (the other extreme). Our kitchen is small and we eat in the dining room, which has a piano and guitar that my Wife enjoys. She also has an "office" of sorts in the "china closet". I have to smile, when I hear terms like rumpus room and den. We should feel free to change our layout to fit our life-styles. :)

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Has to be the kitchen. That's where most of the action takes place. My kitchen has an extension for a table
and chairs and that's where we eat. The "living room" is a joke....quite large but is rarely used. (Some old
homes only use their living rooms for weddings and funerals.) Some our neighbors use the room just off the kitchen
for a dining room. I use mine as a "family room" where we spend most of our time. To each his/her own.
 
oakapple said:
Will someone from the US explain what goes on [LOL] in a 'rumpus room' a 'den' [lions?] a 'china closet' and what are 'pocket doors'?
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IMO .. Rumpus Room and Den are 1950's jargon for what is now a Family Room.... it's a gathering room for everyone, to watch TV, play games, etc., if your living room is separate and off limits for everyday activity.

China closet is usually a large cabinet where you place all your good china dishes for those special occasions.
(I don't have one)


My living room/family room is off my large kitchen and it's open concept, so gatherings of family seem to be in both areas.
 
Back before I disinherited my aunt Bessie, she and her husband had a house which was more of a museum than a warm, comfortable home. The furniture was all covered in plastic, every table had multiple doilies and coasters, and everyone - from children to adults - were warned not to sit on the furniture, because it was "only for guests". The TV was never turned on. The windows were always sealed shut to prevent any real air from entering the room.

... and this was just the living room ...

If you wanted to play or talk or even breathe you had to go downstairs to the basement, which I suppose served as the rumpus room. :(
 
For me, it was always the kitchen where friends would gather for coffee or a meal around the table. We shot pool in the basement. Now, I'm in a small condo with a tiny kichen, no room for a table. *sigh* So now, it's the liingroom/dining area, which is ok I guess, but I miss the kitchen life.
 
I missed getting back to you Meanderer, on the conservatory. No it's not a green house, but it is almost all glass! It's a room attached to a house/bungalow brick built to a [almost] half way level then glass large and small windows with usually a glass roof and double doors also glass leading out into the garden.Ours has a tiled floor, heating and lighting and comfy chairs, sofa, small tables etc.You can have lots of plants in it if you like.
 
oakapple, I think here we would call that a sun room.

My kitchen is the heart of the home. It's a big ol' country kitchen. It opens into the den. Everybody always gathers in the kitchen. When we have a crowd, we set up tables in the den. They are sort of like one big room.
 

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