 | | Nancy Lindemeyer was a groundbreaking editor for over twenty years with home magazines Better Homes & Gardens and Victoria. Today she is a consultant for leading home products companies, and is gifted with unique insight into the home-related aspirations of women of all ages. |
Keeping rooms are the ancestors of today's great rooms - meals were cooked, quilts stitched, and books read by the hearth, all in the same space. Now, in many homes, including vacation and second homes, great rooms are expanding into today's dining and living rooms.  | | Waverly Place plank-top refectory table |
The reason: the love of informality, and the desire for the family to be together in the precious time at home, even if the activities that happen there now are more likely to be channel and Internet surfing or electronic gaming.
Dining, living, and family rooms are not out of style. But the great room is yet another space option when building, remodeling, or redecorating. Why not reconsider your conventional spaces with an eye to making them as exciting, inviting, and functional as the keeping rooms of yore? Here are suggestions for furnishings that move in with comfort, ease, and old-world charm.
The Refectory Table
 | | Waverly Place upholstered chairs |
Waverly Place is a cheerful collection sharing an English legacy with the great-room tradition. The ample, rough-hewn plank-top table invites both banquets and buffets. Its refectory style also makes it the perfect library table. Set certain places with trays or platters for a buffet lunch or after-school snacks. This versatile table furniture is formal when you want it to be - and hale-and-hearty enough for office and family activities. Large pots of garden flowers are natural accessories. Ladderback chairs keep the mood of the English countryside. Upholstered chairs encourage lingering around the table for afternoon tea.
Wine Cabinets
 | | Seven Seas wine cabinet |
Great rooms are perfect for entertaining and hobbies - home furniture such as this Seven Seas wine cabinet fits in beautifully. This versatile piece, with its aged parquet top, can also be used for conventional storage by adjusting the shelves. Store favorite bottles or good linens beneath, and use the top for display, a buffet, or to stage a wine-and-cheese party.
Seating Arrangements
 | | Ransom from Bradington-Young |
Large open spaces easily accommodate big, comfy seating. Consider the wonderfully reliable club chair - the Ranson from Bradington Young.  | | Coco accent arm chair |
Its curved wings coordinate nicely with the sofas. Tucked into a corner or nearby window, it's a fine spot to curl up. A chair with a more ladylike demeanor is the Coco accent arm chair, in a finish evoking London's famous fog, and upholstered in a classic floral. One of more will move around the room easily as you require. Visit www.bradington-young.com for more details.
Occasional Tables
For tables at sofa - or chairside, the metal and penshell Sanibel lamp tables are elegant choices. This charming collection also includes a round accent table.
 | | Sanibel lamp table |
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 | | Sanibel round accent table |
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Home Theater
Villa Sienna is a stately old-world setting for new-era technology. This home theater furniture has a variety of individual sections that combine to make a room's focal point. No great room is without its stage for video - whether your tastes run to high-definition sports or classic movies.
Home Office
 | | Marble-topped writing desk |
Great rooms are ideal settings for home offices. This marble-topped writing desk is a major statement - not an afterthought.
 | | Montclair lateral file |
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 | | New Castle double bookcase |
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Montclair lateral file in chestnut burl and cherry veneers with antique-finished hardware, and the New Castle double bookcase, another heritage-inspired piece meant to meet the needs of today - and do so elegantly.
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