This centuries - old way brings the marrow of comfort to the heart of the home .
Even if you ’ve never heard of a retention room ( and ca n’t quite guess what it is based on its name ) , it ’s a cozy arena you ’ll want to add to your home . Though centuries onetime , keep open way are make a comeback in contemporary sign . Think of it as an overflow spaceoff the kitchenwhere friends and fellowship can sit in a comfy death chair and chat as delightful aromas waft around them while the Captain Cook makes a meal .
Michelle Gageis the originative director and founding father of Michelle Gage Interiors , a Philadelphia - based interior pattern firm place in the Historic Chestnut Hill District .
Credit: Eric Piasecki
History of Keeping Rooms
The history of this room date back to the recent 18th one C when people build keep rooms ( sometimes telephone hearth rooms)next to their kitchensfor warmth . kitchen were usually the only berth inside the homewith a hearth , and the heating system of the fire widen into the guardianship elbow room and provide a place for people to stay put warm during the cold wintertime months .
Families would gather in this often diminished elbow room and drop the daylight preparing meals , stitching , or doing other household chores . The first keeping rooms appear in New England , but they can also be found in many historichomes in the South .
Today’s Keeping Rooms
The room ’s purpose and appearance have evolve , but it is still a fooling gathering blank space first and foremost . While you will most often see a keeping room inolder homes , homeowners and builders are beginning to incorporate this room into fresh builds , and for upright reason . " A safekeeping room ’s location , neighboring off the kitchen , is inherently cozy because of its propinquity to where meals are made , " says decorator Michelle Gage . " They ’re a capital gathering space for family and friends while the party preparation is happen . "
" It allows everyone to get close to the action — but not too close to the meddling chef . Everyone knows that the kitchen is the hub of the house and that they are primarilymade of hard surfaces . A distance nearby with cozy soft materials is the perfect complement to the plate ’s workhorse , " she adds .
How to Decorate a Keeping Room
This place is all about warmth and comfort . rather of assembling around akitchen islandon barstools , a keeping elbow room utilize a nearby area to create a office for guests to amalgamate and chat without crowding the kitchen . As they become more popular , sizes and designs might variegate , but one affair always remains — the cozy factor .
A keeping room typically has plenty of comfortable furniture , like adeep sofawith many soft pillows and plush throw blanket . Some have a built - inbreakfast nookor a rattan piece of furniture exercise set , like to something you might see in a sunroom . Others are large and feature afireplace as the focal point in time , evocative of the original holding rooms . Today , the fireplace is surrounded by well-to-do chairs for conversation , enjoying a glass of wine , or playing games .
A safekeeping elbow room is n’t always a completely separate room . Over the past few decades , open trading floor planshave grown in popularity , and while the vogue isbeginning to subside a bit , many homes still feature this layout throughout the living space . Often , today ’s kitchens are undetermined and course into a dining room or nook that could be used as a retention room . Like afamily roomthat ’s more relaxed than aformal aliveness room , an feed - in kitchen offer an extra place for people to pull together and adds to your home ’s market value .
Credit: John Granen
Keeping Room vs. Family Room: What’s the Difference?
It might sound like a keeping room does n’t differ much from a family unit elbow room , but there are some differences . Afamily roomusually has a television , and it ’s not needfully next to the kitchen ; many family room arein a basementor in the back of a house overlook the grounds while keeping rooms are always side by side to the kitchen . However , they ’re both considered a bonus distance .
Keeping elbow room might look dissimilar than in the 1700s , but they lend as much lovingness and economic value to a home today as they did in the past tense .
Credit: Robert Brinson
Credit: Lincoln Barbour
