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A family room is an informal, all-purpose room in a house. The family room is designed to be a place where 
The distinction between a family room, living room, and
A family room is an informal, all-purpose room in a house. The family room is designed to be a place where family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
and guests gather for group recreation like talking, reading, watching TV, and other family activities. Often, the family room is located adjacent to the kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation in a dwelling or in a commercial establishment. A modern middle-class residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running wate ...
, and at times, flows into it with no visual breaks. A family room often has doors leading to the back yard and specific outdoor living areas such as a deck, garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...
, or terrace
Terrace may refer to:
Landforms and construction
* Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river
* Terrace, a street suffix
* Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk an ...
.
The term ''family room'' is defined in the 1945 book '' Tomorrow's House'' by George Nelson and Henry Wright. Chapter 7, entitled "The Room Without a Name" spoke of the need in modern life for a new "biggest room in the house" that would serve the social and recreational needs of the entire family, allowing activities that would not be permitted in the living room.
This "big room" would have furnishings and materials that were "tough", for hard use, and it should be easy to clean. In contrast with the existing " rumpus rooms" of the time, it would occasionally serve for slightly more formal entertainment, so it should be a handsome room and should have cupboards where toys, tools, etc. could be kept out of sight.
The distinction between a family room, living room, and recreation room
A recreation room (also known as a rec room, rumpus room, play room, playroom, games room, or ruckus room) is a room used for a variety of purposes, such as parties, games and other everyday or casual activities. The term ''recreation room'' is c ...
is fluid, but can be classified according to three characteristics: location, function and design. Football games on large color televisions made family rooms large enough for parents and children more popular during the 1970s. In homes with more than one, the family room is less formal, both in function and furnishings and is located away from the main entrance, while the living room is usually the more formal, reserved for guests, special occasions and the display of items such as antiques or artwork. It is typically located in the central part of the house towards the front. The recreation room is typically in the basement and used for games and playtime.
In homes with only one, the terms are generally used interchangeably. In floorplan
In architecture and building engineering, a floor plan is a technical drawing to scale, showing a view from above, of the relationships between rooms, spaces, traffic patterns, and other physical features at one level of a structure.
Dimensio ...
s, a " great room" is where the living room and family room are combined into one high-ceilinged room adjacent to the kitchen.
See also
*Parlour
A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessar ...
*Den (room)
A den is a small room in a house where people can pursue activities in private.
In North America, the type of rooms described by the term ''den'' varies considerably by region. It is used to describe many different kinds of bonus rooms, includ ...
*Living room
In Western architecture, a living room, also called a lounge room (Australian English), lounge (British English), sitting room (British English), or drawing room, is a room for relaxing and socializing in a residential house or apartment. Su ...
*Recreation room
A recreation room (also known as a rec room, rumpus room, play room, playroom, games room, or ruckus room) is a room used for a variety of purposes, such as parties, games and other everyday or casual activities. The term ''recreation room'' is c ...
References
External links
{{room Rooms