I saw this article and was surprised by the term “rec room” as a blast from the past. Do people still have “rec rooms” like we did in the 60’s and 70’s? Does anybody use this word anymore?
Well, they HAVE them, but I think they’re mostly the FROGs now.
Wha? … Help! I’ve been whoosed and I can’t get up!
Now they are called “The Party Zone”.
And even that is so 1980’s!
Finished room over garage
Appears regional to NC
I think they’ve been taking over by home offices and ‘bonus’ rooms (and isn’t that the stupidest name ever.)
We call it the “family room.” The place where we entertain people we don’t like so much is the “great room.” I’ve often wondered what it thinks is so damned great about it.
ding! ding! ding! We have a winner! 1960’s “Rec (recreation) Room” (often a finished or semi-finished basement (remember basements?)) morphed into the family room (for extra credit, parlor became “living room”.
“Great Room” tries to evoke the main hall of manors of old. What it actually means: "we aren’t even going to make a pretense of separate living and dining areas - walls cost money, and a 24x12 room looks more impressive than 2 12x12’s.
What about the drawing room, rumpus room, spare room, guest room, library, study, and the cupboard under the stairs?
My dad’s house still has a rec room. It’s the big room in the basement with a pool table and a wet bar. When I was little, my sisters and I used it for playing with our Barbies. Now, my dad is using it to build an airplane. It would make a really wonderful room to have parties and other recreational type things in. The family room is upstairs and its where we watch TV, hang out and talk after dinner, and sip coffee in the morning once we’re done with breakfast. In my mind, they are two very different things. A bonus room would be a better comparison to the rec room than a family room.
I’ve never heard it used in Australia for private homes, only for workplaces.
Here, if it’s a kid space it’d be a “rumpus room”, otherwise just something like “family room”, “spare room”, etc. We’ve never used the phrase “den” here either (though I like the concept), so I’m not sure what Aussie 50s dads had.
I have a beautiful rec room with a woodburning fireplace, knotty pine walls and a bar. I use the room for storage.
I’ve never heard of it. And I have a frog!
Well…not that kind. This kind.
We had a finished Rec room in the basement but we just called it the basement. The Family Room was where we had the TV and actually spent our time. The Dining Room was used twice a year for Christmas dinner and maybe one other event. The living room had the piano and “fancy” furniture and was where the christmas tree was set up. Rarely used apart from Christmas.
On home improvement shows, they seem to call them “Man Caves” these days.
We have a rec room. We interchangeably refer to it as “the basement”, “the rec room” or “the rumpus room” (the latter usually being when we’re going for maximum cheese value). It’s where we keep our TV and related accessories, including all the video game systems.
No wood panelling or wet bar, which in my mind are the staples of a classic rec room, but we did put a bright red shag rug in there to make up for it.
They’ve been replaced by “Media Rooms.”
Recreation rooms were where pool tables, bars, dart boards, and cards were played. Drinking by adults done here.
Adults
Family rooms were for television, stereos, video games, and where family games stayed. No drinking here.
All the family
Romper rooms were were all the small kids and their toys hung out, to be avoided at all costs by anyone not a small kid. No drinking here.
Kids
Seconded.
When I was a kid, a few families I knew had a ‘rumpus room’ which would have been a basement or room over the garage. It would have had a ping pong table or perhaps a pool table in it. Not too many basements where I grew up.
Folks had a living room which served as family room, parlor, and den all in one. That’s where the TV was.
The big room with the bar and pool table and seating areas seem to be called game rooms now. And yeah, if they are dominated by a big TV and surround sound, it’s a media room.
They seem to be on a nicer scale than the panelled basement rec room.