What Is a Great Room? Why You Should Consider One Now

If you've ever wondered what a great room is or if it's the right fit for you and your family, we've gathered insights from three architects with lots of experience in evaluating and designing these large, multipurpose spaces.

Read on to find out what a great room is and whether it's a good idea for your home and lifestyle.

What Is a Great Room?

Great rooms are combinations of several different rooms in a home, like a living room, dining area, and sometimes a kitchen or bar area, says Kevin Harris, founder of Kevin Harris Architect.

"The goal of a great room is to create an open and inviting space for family and friends to gather and enjoy each other's company", adds Harris.

Great rooms have an extensive history, having originated from multi-purpose spaces in medieval castles, says Michele Rudolph, the founder of Riverside Design. She explains that great rooms or great halls were once the center of daily activities in a castle, which reflects their use today.

"In present times, a great room often opens to a kitchen, dining, and outdoor spaces for a vibrant living space that is the heart of a home," adds Rudolph.

If you love to host, you'll definitely want to incorporate a great room into your home, as it can contain many desirable features. According to Rudolph, they can include features like fireplaces, patio access, entertainment systems, and plenty of lighting, making them useful for a range of activities.

Great rooms are especially appropriate for today's way of life, says Lisa Pickell, president of Orren Pickell Building Group.

"As eat-in kitchens became more expansive, formal dining rooms became dead spaces rarely used," explains Pickell. "In the same way, family rooms made formal living rooms obsolete, joining these spaces together in a single or in adjacent spaces made them more useful to families."

Benefits of a Great Room

Great rooms and guests go hand in hand. Pickell says that great rooms can make entertaining easier and more informal, since there's no barrier between the kitchen and the living area.

Harris agrees, noting that great rooms allow for greater interaction since everyone is in one location rather than having smaller groups dispersed in a separate kitchen, living room, and dining room. Gone are the days of small and separate living and dining rooms that could only accommodate a handful of visitors at once.

Great rooms are typically light-filled spaces, making them a pleasant space in which to unwind and relax in, whether solo or with a few loved ones. Pickell notes that this is because most great rooms are open-plan and have plenty of natural light with fewer interior walls.

How to Make the Most of a Great Room

• Furnish the room to accommodate large and small groups. This could mean a couple of seating areas; one with a large sofa designed for many to gather and some smaller seating areas dotted around the room for other activities like reading and playing board games.
• Design the space to allow for a range of activities. Great rooms serve many purposes including being a space for relaxing, entertaining and for recreation. Create zones for every activity, while still making the whole room work together cohesively.
• Think about the flow of the room. Think about how your family (and guests) will use the space and move around the space. Make decorating choices around this, ensuring easy flow of traffic as well as a practical layout.
• Consider the acoustics of the room. Most great rooms have large, vaulted ceilings which allow sound to travel. So it's worth paying attention to where you place your TV or entertainment system. Though if this is an existing issue, there are ways to reduce this with sound absorbing decor and materials like “cabinetry and millwork as well as carpets, window treatments and wall coverings”, notes Pickell.