Whatever happened to the living room?
May 15, 2008 by Jean Murray
Back in the late 19th century/early 20th there were parlors. We had a house built in 1892 that had a lovely parlor with pocket doors. Then there were formal living rooms, which we paid a lot of money for the furniture for and never used. I remember a home I had in Cleveland with very expensive furniture in the living room. We would pass through it on the way to the formal dining room (which we never used either).
When I was a kid, we spent time in the basement…furnished or semi-furnished, of course. Then we moved the basement upstairs and it became a family room and that’s where we spent all of our time. I remember those red-shag carpeted family rooms with the glass-back bars. Do you?
Then in the 70s and 80s the “great room” concept came into being. A much better idea, I thought. We’re scaling down even more now, making rooms do double-duty and doing with less. The phenomenon has been called the “shrinking house.” Like our big cars, our big houses are getting too expensive to operate. We went from small houses in the 50s to much larger houses in the next few decades, back to smaller houses.
It’s time to cut back, live more simply. We can save some trees by not buying all of that furniture, and maybe we can actually connect with our families because we don’t get separated in those gimongous house.
For example:
- Sarah Susanka created the “Not So Big House” to “bring to light a new way of thinking about what makes a place feel like home”
- The Small House Society pegs itself as a resource for the small house movement
- Small House Style is a magazine dedicated to all things small house.
These people use terms like “sustainable resources” and simple, and we’re talking 800 sq. ft. houses here. The small house movement is, shall I say, “growing.”
What about you? Are you ready for a small house?
Ha! What small houses? The only thing I see getting smaller in developments are the lots, the houses are getting larger. I’m not saying that there’s not a movement, but no one’s told the builders so it’s not mainstream. Too bad, I love small houses:)
Thanks, Miki. I’d settle for a small house on a large piece of land, rather than vice versa.
Hi, Jean:
The living room has been going out of style for some time now. People buying homes would much rather have offices, home theaters or media rooms. Others would prefer to use the extra space for some other use, perhaps converting it to a master suite of some sort.
Also, whatever happened to front porches…those long ones across the front of the house where families sat after supper and chatted while children chased fireflies?
Not me, Jean. Small house on small land. I guess I’m getting past wanting to garden 10 hours a day just to keep up!
MEA, If you want a portch you buy an older home in an older area. Portches—and fireflies for that matter—need large leafy trees, another thing that new areas don’t have. Anyway, everybody is too “busy” to enjoy that kind of down time.
Porches. I remember my grandparents’ house and the great big front/side porch we played on. It’s still one of my best childhood memories. But you’re right about the time, Miki. Who has time to sit on the porch anymore?
Hey. I didn’t say anything about time and the busy had quotes around it.
‘Busy’ seems to have developed a strong out-busying the Joneses streak. Portch time requires a wilingness to say “no” and a desire for conversation/reflection/thinking/dreaming/listening/silence.
How many people do you know who opt for those activities?
Me, for one. My wireless works on the porch