Typically, the living and family rooms are the most public areas of the home. They are the places where you meet and greet company, lounge and watch TV, and also where you do most of your entertaining, which includes serving food and drinks. These rooms are the ultimate multi-purpose spaces, acting as the gathering spot for family, the media room where TV, computer and stereo reside, and as the entertainment hub. In both staging and redesign, it’s important that we create living areas that can fulfill all of these purposes.
While all homes have a kitchen, not all homes have separate living and family room areas. Usually, when homes have just one “living area,” it is called the “Great Room” as it is purposed to perform all the functions of both a living and a family room. We mentioned those various functions in our list above, but to put it simply, these rooms are for fellowship and entertainment. The primary difference between the living and family rooms is that the living room is mostly for fellowship (entertaining) in a more formal environment while the family room is for entertainment (TV watching, game playing) in a more informal environment. Living rooms should be designed and staged as more formal gathering spaces and family rooms as more casual, kid friendly zones for game playing and TV watching. For both redesign and staging, it’s important to create those subtle differences of purpose in each room, and if there is only one great room, incorporate the whole enchilada! Why? Because both home owners and home buyers will be looking for all purposes to be fulfilled in a great room.
Comments