A keeping room is a room or informal living space adjacent to a

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 water ...

where family and guests can gather while meals are being prepared.

History

Keeping rooms have their origins in the 18th-century

colonial United States The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

, when they were also known as "

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a low, ...

rooms". They allowed family members to enjoy the heat of the

fireplace A fireplace or hearth is a structure made of brick, stone or metal designed to contain a fire. Fireplaces are used for the relaxing ambiance they create and for heating a room. Modern fireplaces vary in heat efficiency, depending on the desig ...

—the warmest area in the house—while staying out of the cook's way. Keeping rooms were areas for family members to sew, do household chores, read, play games, or simply stay warm during winter. They first appeared in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian province ...

, but were also featured in homes in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. In recent years, keeping rooms have experienced a revival in new home construction. Due to the modern availability of

central heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces. ...

, keeping rooms' purpose has shifted to focus more on entertaining and socializing.

Design

Keeping rooms are considered distinct from dens and

family room A family room is an informal, all-purpose room in a house. The family room is designed to be a place where family and guests gather for group recreation like talking, reading, watching TV, and other family activities. Often, the family room is loc ...

s in that dens are secluded areas, while family rooms are not necessarily next to the kitchen and usually feature a television. They are typically smaller areas intended for two to four people. The décor of keeping rooms emphasizes coziness and comfort, such as with rugs, pillows, and cushions. Modern keeping rooms may also feature a fireplace, like their historical equivalents. In the absence of a separate room, designers can create the feel of a keeping room by adding seating and tables to the kitchen. Some

open-concept Open plan is the generic term used in architectural and interior design for any floor plan that makes use of large, open spaces and minimizes the use of small, enclosed rooms such as private offices. The term can also refer to landscaping of h ...

kitchens flow into a

dining room A dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level. Historically the dining room is furnish ...

or other space that can be used as a keeping room.

Other usage

The term "keeping room" was used among Scotch-Irish immigrants in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

and the

Carolinas The Carolinas are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina, considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east. Combining Nort ...

to designate a

parlor 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 necessa ...

where a family's best furniture and other items such as silver and porcelain were kept. This usage was revived among interior decorators in the 1930s.

References

Kitchen Rooms {{Room-stub

History

Design

Other usage

See also

References