Features of the Future and the Past

According to a study by Housing Economics, separate living rooms were reported in 52 percent of all new homes started in 2012, while family rooms were found in 64 percent and great rooms in 46 percent. The numbers varied based on the size of the home. In new houses with less than 2,000 square feet, separate living rooms were provided 51 percent of the time and separate family rooms 43 percent, while a great room configuration was present in 43 percent. Separate living rooms were built in 45 percent of homes in the 2,000- to 2,999-square-foot range, and in 61 percent of homes of 3,000 square feet or more. Separate family rooms and great rooms featured in 67 percent and 50 percent of homes from 2,000 to 2,999 square feet, and in 73 percent and 46 percent of larger homes, respectively.

The 204 builders surveyed for the study described great rooms in a variety of ways, with the definition being a combination of a dining room, living room, family room and kitchen. The most common combination is a shared family and living room, though great rooms that encompassed other combinations were also reported, including some that included all four living space types.

Chris Naatz, vice president of sales and marketing at D.R. Horton Homes, has seen the arrival of open floor plans that merge kitchens, dining rooms and living rooms in a single space. The changes emphasize a move away from defined areas and toward accommodating greater flexibility for entertaining.

“We have a plan we offer in our New Lenox community where the destination area is a dining area, one that’s part of that kitchen great room and seats eight people comfortably,” Naatz said. “Plus you can get five or six people at the island next to it. So you can have 13 people and they’re right there in the entertaining area.”

Deborah Beaver, vice president of operations at William Ryan Homes in Schaumburg, said her company has been offering floor plans that don’t include living rooms for several years.  Instead, many of her company’s clients choose flex rooms that they can use as office space, libraries, formal living rooms or even game rooms.

“You start to see that bedroom sizes are getting smaller because people aren’t spending time in their bedrooms anymore; they’re spending time together as a family unit,” Beaver said. “It used to be that there was a kitchen and a dining room and a wall and then a family room. We’re starting to see more of what’s called ‘triangle living,’ which is where the kitchen, the breakfast nook and the family room are one big, continuous space for family living.”