Common areas

What are the most popular common areas in your place? Least popular? What do you wish you had more of? Less of? What -- in spite of being popular and regularly used -- just isn't worth the hassle?

More of? - Common areas (Front porch & dining room are all I have)
Less of? - papers and stuff I am too afraid to throw away for fear of needing as documentation as soon as I DO throw it away (I am one of "the same 10 people"). DH will not give up one inch of the workshop he basically no longer uses for me to have as my office. So the Library that WOULD be a nice common area is office and I really do not want guests relaxing in it.
Most popular area? - the front porch

This is a great question!

I wish I had 'meeting space' so we could host events. More porch would be nice. A bigger dining room. A bigger living room or a second living room.
My huge yard rarely gets used.

In the South, the most popular common area hands down are front porches. Seems like a lot of folks just don't sit outside and watch the world go by unless they're on vacation....
Our second most popular area...other porches.

I'm actually pretty happy with our common areas because they are small. We're not typical...our guests don't want to hang with others.
If I had a lot of money, I would want 1 more common area room that I could use for special functions, meetings, etc.

Our most popular area was outside either in the swing, or under one of several pergolas. They love watching the mts. and the cows in the field. Inside pretty much stayed in rooms.

We have a breakfast room large enough to seat 22 which we never use during the day - we have tried to use it for meetings and coffee mornings before now but it is very awkward as the main access to our living area is through it and the only access to the kitchen ie if I want to get a cup of tea I have to walk through the meeting.
also we have a through lounge from the car park to the front door - we get maybe 1 guest in 2 weeks sits in there.

Breakfast Diva said:

I'm actually pretty happy with our common areas because they are small. We're not typical...our guests don't want to hang with others.
If I had a lot of money, I would want 1 more common area room that I could use for special functions, meetings, etc..

Click to expand...

Breakfast Diva said:

I'm actually pretty happy with our common areas because they are small. We're not typical...our guests don't want to hang with others.
If I had a lot of money, I would want 1 more common area room that I could use for special functions, meetings, etc.

Click to expand...

Your guests are like 99% of our guests, they don't want to hang with others at all. The only folks who do are those who bring instruments and pick on the porch, then it is more fun with a group gathered to listen, chat, play or whatever...

Joey Bloggs said:

Breakfast Diva said:

I'm actually pretty happy with our common areas because they are small. We're not typical...our guests don't want to hang with others.
If I had a lot of money, I would want 1 more common area room that I could use for special functions, meetings, etc..

Click to expand...

Breakfast Diva said:

I'm actually pretty happy with our common areas because they are small. We're not typical...our guests don't want to hang with others.
If I had a lot of money, I would want 1 more common area room that I could use for special functions, meetings, etc.

Click to expand...

Your guests are like 99% of our guests, they don't want to hang with others at all. The only folks who do are those who bring instruments and pick on the porch, then it is more fun with a group gathered to listen, chat, play or whatever...
.

Click to expand...

It's a few different sorts here:

• Social butterflies, they want to meet other people
• They're using the computer
• They came in a group and they want to have drinks together
• Spouse is resting and they want to read
• Spouse is watching TV and they want to read
• Kid is napping and they just want some down time from watching the kid
• Maybe the living room chair is more comfortable than in their room
• They don't have a TV in their room so they come downstairs to catch the news

All kinds of reasons why someone is using the living room. I wish for a larger one like muirford's so groups could spread out a bit. There could be multiple groups at once or larger family groups could just sit without going and getting dining room chairs.

Joey Bloggs said:

Breakfast Diva said:

I'm actually pretty happy with our common areas because they are small. We're not typical...our guests don't want to hang with others.
If I had a lot of money, I would want 1 more common area room that I could use for special functions, meetings, etc..

Click to expand...

Breakfast Diva said:

I'm actually pretty happy with our common areas because they are small. We're not typical...our guests don't want to hang with others.
If I had a lot of money, I would want 1 more common area room that I could use for special functions, meetings, etc.

Click to expand...

Your guests are like 99% of our guests, they don't want to hang with others at all. The only folks who do are those who bring instruments and pick on the porch, then it is more fun with a group gathered to listen, chat, play or whatever...
.

Click to expand...

Joey Bloggs said:

Breakfast Diva said:

I'm actually pretty happy with our common areas because they are small. We're not typical...our guests don't want to hang with others.
If I had a lot of money, I would want 1 more common area room that I could use for special functions, meetings, etc.

Click to expand...

Your guests are like 99% of our guests, they don't want to hang with others at all. The only folks who do are those who bring instruments and pick on the porch, then it is more fun with a group gathered to listen, chat, play or whatever...

Click to expand...

Oh man, I would love to have some pickin' & grinin' happening! What fun.

New that the blue spruce is down, my gardening nut daughter is coming in a couple weeks. She is going to "have at" my yard. Now that the roof is going to be finished and things settling in again, I would like to get some chairs and benches for the side yard, let my hedges grow as high as the Code will allow, and put in one of those free-standing fire pits. I would put the chairs and benches on a circle around the pit and keep the kind of logs they burn on hand. I get very little winter traffic anyway so need to gear toward spring thru fall.
Actually I have been toying with the idea of removing the hedges altogether and replacing with a faux wrought iron fence (properly installed with cement), not left to fall over when the wind blows. No more hedge trimming.

If we had the $, I would put a sunroom style dining room off the back to serve breakfast in and a wrap around porch...Most people sit in our guest common room, not a lot of options, I am surprised more don't take advantage of the back yard, it's so nice out there. Many do hang out on the deck though...

My guests are all here for "reasons", so it is uncommon for anyone to make use of the parlor and the library just for hanging out. A few times I've had couples hang out on the front porch. I think perhaps, like Gillum, if I was going to upgrade, it would be more work on the yard. I am working on some basic landscaping deficiencies this summer.
I think a fire ring would be interesting, but it would add another layer of potential problems, and I'm not sure it would attract an additional type of visitor. People don't come to this town to sit around a campfire. I have decided though, that I'll get a real landscaper to give me advice on what to do next spring with plants, etc.

Innkeep said:

My guests are all here for "reasons", so it is uncommon for anyone to make use of the parlor and the library just for hanging out. A few times I've had couples hang out on the front porch. I think perhaps, like Gillum, if I was going to upgrade, it would be more work on the yard. I am working on some basic landscaping deficiencies this summer.
I think a fire ring would be interesting, but it would add another layer of potential problems, and I'm not sure it would attract an additional type of visitor. People don't come to this town to sit around a campfire. I have decided though, that I'll get a real landscaper to give me advice on what to do next spring with plants, etc..

Click to expand...

Fire pit! Love it. The big hotel put one in right along the main drag. You can see it walking by or driving by. Every night it is packed. All winter and right now, too. I would love that but... not staying up until midnight to be sure it's all tamped down. I've seen kids poking branches they ripped off the trees into the fire. Not a parent saying a thing. So I don't want to deal with that.
I thought doing one with a gas line run to it would be good. On a timer. It goes off at 11. But I need a sidewalk before I need that.

Our guests really enjoy relaxing in our big double hammock. I tell them they can pull it into the sun or the shade and often I will look out and a couple is taking a nap in it or just snuggling. It's so sweet to see them like that!

Breakfast Diva said:

Our guests really enjoy relaxing in our big double hammock. I tell them they can pull it into the sun or the shade and often I will look out and a couple is taking a nap in it or just snuggling. It's so sweet

to see them like that!.

Click to expand...

We have a hammock we have never put out. Mostly because of kid guests. Our neighbor kids used to come over and try to knock each other out of it. Figured that would happen here, too. Oh, and, we had family over for a party once and the teenagers were snogging in it and their parents thought it was cute while the rest of the family thought it was disgusting. Seriously. You stick your hands in someone else's pants while the whole family, young and old, is 20 feet away?
So, another reason it's not out in the yard here.

Madeleine said:

Innkeep said:

My guests are all here for "reasons", so it is uncommon for anyone to make use of the parlor and the library just for hanging out. A few times I've had couples hang out on the front porch. I think perhaps, like Gillum, if I was going to upgrade, it would be more work on the yard. I am working on some basic landscaping deficiencies this summer.
I think a fire ring would be interesting, but it would add another layer of potential problems, and I'm not sure it would attract an additional type of visitor. People don't come to this town to sit around a campfire. I have decided though, that I'll get a real landscaper to give me advice on what to do next spring with plants, etc..

Click to expand...

Fire pit! Love it. The big hotel put one in right along the main drag. You can see it walking by or driving by. Every night it is packed. All winter and right now, too. I would love that but... not staying up until midnight to be sure it's all tamped down. I've seen kids poking branches they ripped off the trees into the fire. Not a parent saying a thing. So I don't want to deal with that.
I thought doing one with a gas line run to it would be good. On a timer. It goes off at 11. But I need a sidewalk before I need that.
.

Click to expand...

Madeleine said:

Fire pit! Love it. The big hotel put one in right along the main drag. You can see it walking by or driving by. Every night it is packed. All winter and right now, too. I would love that but... not staying up until midnight to be sure it's all tamped down. I've seen kids poking branches they ripped off the trees into the fire. Not a parent saying a thing. So I don't want to deal with that.
I thought doing one with a gas line run to it would be good. On a timer. It goes off at 11. But I need a sidewalk before I need that.

Click to expand...

http://www.amazon.com/CobraCo-SH101-Hammered-Copper-Screen/dp/B000HX2DGE/ref=lp_14107621_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1375666145&sr=1-11
This is more like what I had in mind with a couple of these
http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Outdoor-Benches/2033/subcat.html#Home-Garden/Country-Garden-Promo-Tete-a-tete-Glider-Chairs-Set-of-2/7676766/product.html?refccid=TDURXBQ6Q2SLBVSBRMKDV2U7LQ&searchidx=5

Madeleine said:

Breakfast Diva said:

Our guests really enjoy relaxing in our big double hammock. I tell them they can pull it into the sun or the shade and often I will look out and a couple is taking a nap in it or just snuggling. It's so sweet

to see them like that!.

Click to expand...

We have a hammock we have never put out. Mostly because of kid guests. Our neighbor kids used to come over and try to knock each other out of it. Figured that would happen here, too. Oh, and, we had family over for a party once and the teenagers were snogging in it and their parents thought it was cute while the rest of the family thought it was disgusting. Seriously. You stick your hands in someone else's pants while the whole family, young and old, is 20 feet away?
So, another reason it's not out in the yard here.
.

Click to expand...

Ahhhhhh...another reason why I'm so glad we're not family friendly. It's not the kids fault, it's the parents.

Innkeep said:

My guests are all here for "reasons", so it is uncommon for anyone to make use of the parlor and the library just for hanging out. A few times I've had couples hang out on the front porch. I think perhaps, like Gillum, if I was going to upgrade, it would be more work on the yard. I am working on some basic landscaping deficiencies this summer.
I think a fire ring would be interesting, but it would add another layer of potential problems, and I'm not sure it would attract an additional type of visitor. People don't come to this town to sit around a campfire. I have decided though, that I'll get a real landscaper to give me advice on what to do next spring with plants, etc..

Click to expand...

Innkeep said:

People don't come to this town to sit around a campfire.

Click to expand...

You know, very few people use our fire ring, I'm really surprise!