Do Not Sit

[spot]

Originally Posted by Pinky

Yeah, my ex's mum has one of those rooms. It has lovely expensive couches, beautiful units and all the 'posh' ornaments (as she calls them) are in there. They only use it at christmas and special occasions! Most of the time they sit in the back room off the kitchen which isn't quite as nice. I never understood it myself!
Saying that, they're the generation that makes everyone come in via the back door. The front is strictly for births and deaths. Weird.

That is exactly, to the last detail, how my grandparents lived. I don't think I ever went through their front door even once. None of the furniture would be considered expensive now, and there were no units, but it was all beaten, dusted and polished every week even though nobody went in there inbetween times.

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by koan

Do you or someone you know have a room that is not supposed to be used except for company?

A friend of mine did. The couches had plastic covers on them etc.
I think it is a sign of over attachment to material things. A sign of putting too much value into what other people think. To me, possessions are meant to be used and enjoyed.

Had a neighbor across the street with a plastic house. Furniture, runners on the carpet, the whole 9 yards.
It could be an over attachment or it could be she was just a freak, not sure.

[guppy]

i remember when this was really popular when i was a kid.....it always made me think of the room like shrine or something.....i never understood it myself....

[Marie5656]

Do people really still do that? I remember as a kid being in houses where there were rooms that seemed to never be used..except for showplaces. And of course, rooms the kids were never allowed in.
But then again..not long ago I visited a house where not only did guests have to remove thier shoes..they had to remove thier SOCKS..and put on these little flip flop shoes while in the house.

[koan]

I had a friend who, when showing me some article of clothing in her room, freaked out when I sat on the bed to look at it.

It's a good indication of how often anyone was allowed into it.

[RedGlitter]

Originally Posted by Pinky

Yeah, my ex's mum has one of those rooms. It has lovely expensive couches, beautiful units and all the 'posh' ornaments (as she calls them) are in there. They only use it at christmas and special occasions! Most of the time they sit in the back room off the kitchen which isn't quite as nice. I never understood it myself!
Saying that, they're the generation that makes everyone come in via the back door. The front is strictly for births and deaths. Weird.

I've never heard of the door thing before, Pinky.
What are units??


I think probably it has to do with saving the best for company. Like the good china. Putting on your best show for company.

We have never had special rooms. A living room of course and once, a den but no dining room or company room. When people visit us, it's the living room sometimes, but more often than not, we all sit in the kitchen. I'm a kitchen person. That's where everything takes place. Food, bill paying, happiness, sorrow. All the conversations are there.

I have a pan shaped thingy on the wall that reads

No matter where I serve my guests
it seems they like my kitchen best

It's been in all our homes and is the truth.

Originally Posted by RedGlitter

I've never heard of the door thing before, Pinky.
What are units??


I think probably it has to do with saving the best for company. Like the good china. Putting on your best show for company.

We have never had special rooms. A living room of course and once, a den but no dining room or company room. When people visit us, it's the living room sometimes, but more often than not, we all sit in the kitchen. I'm a kitchen person. That's where everything takes place. Food, bill paying, happiness, sorrow. All the conversations are there.

I have a pan shaped thingy on the wall that reads

No matter where I serve my guests
it seems they like my kitchen best

It's been in all our homes and is the truth.

If my kitchen could fit a dining table in it, that's where I'd probably be most of the time too. When friends pop round we often linger around in there for a while anyway!
I think the front door thing started with the middle classes trying to emulate the peerage or something like that. People still do it to this day!
I always use the back door, but that's only because the driveway is around the back, and besides, I've never had a key for the front door..the estate office lost it a long time before I moved in!

[Bez]

Originally Posted by Soberano

A lot of people did years ago, i never understood why. My best friends family never used their lounge at all. They used to sit in the dining room or kitchen, even watch the television in the evening in the dining room. I only ever got to see the lounge a couple of times in all the years he lived there.

Yep...I remember this in my parents home and even in my own home in the 1960s. I guess there were several reasons.....heating (coal fires) and the maintenance and costs that these incurred and cleaning......there really wasn't the efficient cleaning products to keep things spick and span then and furninshings we bought were meant to last so were looked after.
This all changed in the 70s when central heating was available and people knocked down walls for 'open plan living'.

The back door was always called the Tradesman's entrance. Only posh gits were allowed in the front door, needless to say our front door was not used much. Our back door was never locked even in our rough area, leave it unlocked now and somebody would pinch the paint of the skirting boards.

[Carl44]

Originally Posted by Soberano

The back door was always called the Tradesman's entrance. Only posh gits were allowed in the front door, needless to say our front door was not used much. Our back door was never locked even in our rough area, leave it unlocked now and somebody would pinch the paint of the skirting boards.

back door not used much , buddy you protest too much