Did COVID-19 Kill the Dining Room? What’s Next for This Iconic Space

Abstract

These days, the space formerly known as the dining room is often being used as a study, an office, a spare family room-just about anything other than what it was intended to be. "I don't think that absence of a formal dining room will affect resale value. Especially now, with the open floor plan, a dining room can be turned into literally anything you want it to be." Dining rooms are transforming into whatever homeowners need Even before 2020, fewer people were eating dinner together in the dining room, says Volodymyr Barabakh, co-founder and project director of building contractor Structural Beam in Chicago. With the pandemic, there was a change in space needs and adapting the dining room to serve a new function grew in popularity. Then came the rising trend of open-plan kitchens and living rooms, and the separate space often offered by a dining room created the perfect private getaway when working out or working from home, he says. Dining rooms have pivoted as consumers essentially requested more from their homes, explains Deana Vidal, manager of trend consulting for the New Home Trends Institute at John Burns Real Estate Consulting in California. "Areas for study, work, working out, crafts-these are where people see more value than that big dinner party a few times a year." Do today's homebuyers want dining rooms? Real estate agents and interior designers aren't surprised to enter homes lacking dining rooms-and many don't expect to see them return anytime soon. Dedicated dining rooms simply aren't in demand anymore, especially in homes that have space to eat in the kitchen, says Leonard Ang, CEO of iProperty Management, an online resource guide for landlords, tenants, and real estate investors, Plus, he says, in most cases, the homeowner converting the dining room isn't making permanent changes to the house to accomplish a conversion.