I’ve been making my way through “At Home: A Short History of Private Life” by Bill Bryson this past month, and among all of the startling historical facts is the realization that our current standard homes are a fairly recent trend. Having dedicated rooms for cooking, eating, lounging, and sleeping is a luxury of the modern era. It makes me wonder if they’re really necessary, and if not necessary, would there be a better way to live? One that reflected how we actually spend our days?
In Greece, our families tend to have a large hybrid room that includes a kitchen along one end, a table in the middle, and sofas lining the perimeter of the room. This isn’t an “open floor plan” in the HGTV sense. The sofas are not clustered in a separate grouping like in open floor plans here, the sofas can be on opposite walls with a dining table in the middle. Sometimes, seated at the sofa, the dining chairs are close enough to touch with your feet.
It is very much the family hearth, where aunts toil at countertops or tabletops, others chat with them seated on sofas, someone may be sitting at the table eating a snack. It is familial and warm, and we would sometimes spend our entire day right there, telling stores, laughing, and eating.
Over the weekend, I ran into this photo on Apartment Therapy
I love the sofa tucked into the corner of a dining room. That entire home is a must-see actually. Go click on over.
So, I started searching for more examples:
(Via Inspiring Interiors Ideas)
(Via EJ Interior Design)
What do you think? Is this something you’d ever try out?
