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Formal vs. not
In my house I have a "formal dining room" (as in a seperate room, off from the kitchen, where my dining room furniture is). I've referred to it as a formal dining room and my mom tells me that I don't have a formal dining room because I do not have wood furniture in my dining room. I do have a very nice marble, glass and iron table and bakers rack which I consider to be formal dining room furniture (I mean, I couldn't put that in the kitchen because it would look silly).
SO Do you think that in order for a dining room to be formal you have to have expensive wood furniture in it? I have no idea the cost of my current furniture (it was a gift from my aunt), plus I don't think cost should have anything to do with it. OR can a room be formal without expensive furniture as long as it's decorated properly? OR does it even matter, if it's a seperate room used as a dining room, it's formal?
I realize this is silly. But I want to be right and want to be able to say "but my internet friends agree with me!!!" haha....not really, I just wonder what other people think.
(This all came up because I was buying a new rug and said that one of them didn't seem "formal enough" for my dining room and my mom went on and on about how "informal" my room is).
Re: Formal vs. not
I think it depends on the way it is styled and utlized. Some people have not-so-nice wooden furniture in their dining room and it would most likely be considered not formal.
FWIW my mother in law has a non-wooden table set in her dining room and I think it's formal.
Google "formal dining room"... you come up with photos of non-wood furniture dining rooms.
IMO, a dining room is a dining room. If you have a table in the kitchen, it's an eat-in kitchen. If you have an actual room with a table and chairs where people eat, it's a dining room. Period. Formal, non-formal... I'd never really put much thought into it. LOL
But when someone says to me "formal dining room", I do tend to think of larger furniture all decked out with crystal, fine china, Pretty-Woman-esque silver settings. Not just a table and chairs. So then I guess my opinion of formality in a dining room has to do more with the environment/atmosphere that's set than the actual furniture within.
I do have a crystal chandelier.
My mom calls my dining room the "eating room" which is funny because we never eat in there.
This is what it looked like before we painted and changed the rug:
I think your mom is just being difficut to be difficult (I mean that in a nice way) if you have a seperate room w/ table to eat on it's a dining room, non-seperate room then it's an "eat in kitchen" or "breakfast area" - I've never heard of a an "eating room" - think most people consider "formal' being the style of furniture / use, a lot of the homes we looked at listed a "formal dining room" if they had a dining room and an eat in area of the kitchen.
Wikipedia:
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 furnished with a rather large dining table and a number of dining chairs; the most common table shape is generally rectangular with two armed end chairs and an even number of un-armed side chairs along the long sides.
Sounds like I have a dining room to me!
I think she's being difficult too because she doesn't like my furniture.
When I think of "formal dining" room, I picture one of those dining rooms that are beautifully decorated and maintained, but no one eats in them except for like Thanksgiving and/or Christmas each year. I know a lot of people have them, but it really makes me scratch my head...why have such beautiful stuff if you never use it?
That's off topic though. But anyway, that's my idea of one.
.: Diary of a Recovering Runner :.