Tech-Less Living Rooms

In a recent article, Houzz predicted that a big trend this year will be “Tech-Less Living Rooms” ::

With so much screen time throughout the day and night, homeowners are looking for a calm respite where they can read a book, chat with friends and family or just sit quietly. Thus, the rise of living rooms devoid of digital distraction.

We’ve had a “tech-less living room” in the last two homes we owned. Logan and I go back and forth, but we always settle on leaving the living room without a TV. It’s surprisingly refreshing to have a space that’s specifically for talking and sitting and reading. It nurtures a kind of unspoken emphasis on these things. In fact, for the past year, Valentine has called our living room “the talking room”. Ha!

But to be fair, we still own a TV and spend hours watching it every week. We’ve turned one of the extra bedrooms into a media room, with a cozy couch and dark curtains, but I still like that it’s separate from the main living area. Also, this gives Logan a good space to retreat to when I have friends over (and vice versa).

The one thing we don’t like about have a tech-less living room is that we can’t host an Academy Awards party or invite people over to watch a game. There’s very limited seating in our media room, so even watching a movie with a few friends can feel claustrophobic.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a tech-less living room? Would you rearrange to make one? Why or why not? What are the pros and cons in your mind?

(Photo via Apartment Therapy)