The One Room That's Disappearing From Homes (& How To Create One In Your Space)

There's no doubt that the way we use our homes has changed over the decades. One of the rooms that has mysteriously gone missing from many modern homes these days is the dining room. With more people eating in the living room or kitchen while watching TV and fewer families eating together, to some homeowners, the dining room seems less necessary than it once was. However, while some homeowners are straying away from dining rooms, others are starting to miss them and are looking for ways to add them back into their houses. Having a dining room is useful for eating meals in a more formal and defined way, and can help you enjoy quality time with family members.

If your home currently lacks a dining room and you want one, then you may be wondering how you can add this unique eating space back to your home again. Fortunately, this isn't too difficult to do and there are a few different options that you may not have considered, like repurposing another room or adding a nook to an existing space. Whatever open space you have, you have multiple options to add a dedicated dining room in your home.

Many people repurpose a dining room as a game room, guest room, an office, or another type of room. If you've been using a dining room for another purpose, simply buying dining room furniture and resetting it back to its original purpose may be all that's necessary to have a great place to eat meals once again. Alternatively, you add on an addition to the first floor of your home. Adding a new room is always an option, although it can be a difficult process that tends to be quite costly. You'll also likely need to get a permit for the addition and deal with other challenges as well.

Otherwise, a great option to consider is simply making use of small dining room ideas and adding a downsized dining room to your home. Adding a dining nook in just one part of a room can be a great idea. For example, you could add a dining nook to a section of a repurposed den, dining room, kitchen, or living room. Open space dining rooms are becoming more popular and can give your home the best of both worlds — the dining room won't take up much space but will still give you the ability to eat alone or with others, if the need arises. You can easily separate a living and dining layout with a few simple tweaks to furniture and decor, so this can be a great solution if your home doesn't have much space or if you don't want to use up an entire room for dining purposes.