In this article you will see the main difference between living room and drawing room.
But most of the people called the living room the “Drawing Room,” although you can’t draw anything in the living room. There are few facts about these two terms which you should read.
Let’s get started.
Differences Between The Drawing Room And Living Room?
In the field of interior design, the terms “living room” and “drawing-room” are frequently interchanged, even though they refer to two distinct realities.
So, what are the distinctions between these two environments? They don’t designate the same location, although they both designate a type of seating area. Here are few differences between living room and drawing room.
1- Location difference
Their relative positions in the house can also distinguish the two rooms.
The drawing room is usually near the front door and close to the entrance so that guests can enter without having to pass through other rooms. The living room, on the other hand, is frequently placed in the house’s center.
2- Furniture and design differences
A living room is typically decorated with plush seats, sofas, and recliners, as well as a fireplace and a media unit with a television.
Artwork, framed family photos, and other decorative elements may be used. On the other side, the drawing-room is a more formal setting. The interior design is kept simple and primarily practical.
3- Space and size difference
Living room is large in space and as compare to drawing room because it is a gathering space of a house.
4- Usage
A living room is found in almost every home, but not everyone has a drawing room—the living room doubles as a drawing room in most medium and small homes.
5- The formality level
The formality of a drawing-room differs from that of a living room.
6- Function
Living rooms provide a variety of purposes, such as leisure, recreation, and sociability, whereas drawing rooms are mostly used for socializing.
7- Tones
The colors chosen on the walls or the cabinets in the living room must complement the mood of the rest of the house. This sitting area has more pleasant and light colors, creating a relaxing atmosphere for visitors in the drawing-room.
Why To Use Drawing Room?
Let’s start with the drawing-room. Initially, it was a ‘withdrawing room’ or ‘withdrawing chamber’ in the 16th and 17th centuries. A private room where the owner or distinguished guests could retreat to enjoy some privacy.
After dinner, the ladies would relax here during the Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian periods. As a rule, the men would smoke cigars and drink port in the drawing-room.
Why is the Living Room Sometimes Called the Drawing Room?
Before knowing the actual answer, you should first know why the living room is called a living room. A living room is a space in your home where you can spend time with family, communicate, relax, and watch TV, etc.
The drawing room is also just like a living room where you have a seating area, a space for TV, and all the living room facilities. But the significant difference, drawing room is used for entertaining guests.
In small homes with a shortage of rooms, people use their living room as a drawing-room to entertain guests. It’s not an awkward concept because your guest will have all the facilities of a drawing-room in the living room.
Similarly, sometimes people use the drawing-room as a living room and spend their free time there, watching TV, relaxing, and sleeping. Mean both provide spaces for social activities and relaxation.
Which One Has Smaller Space, “Drawing Room” or “Living Room”?
There are no hard and fast rules for both of them, and secondly, it depends on the area of your house. Most people with small areas can’t make a drawing-room and use the living room to entertain guests.
But usually, if you see, the space of the drawing-room is kept small, as this room is used in rear cases.
While a living room is a place where every member of your house spends a lot of their time and being used to entertain guests, that’s why the space of the living room is kept more comprehensive.
If you follow the general standard; then your living room should be in these sizes
- Large Room: 22×28 FT
- Medium: 16×0 FT
- Small: 12×18 FT
- Very Small: 10×12
If you want to make a separate drawing room in your house, you can also follow the dimensions mentioned above.
Is Parlor the Same as a Drawing Room?
Most people consider a drawing room a Parlor, but is that true? A parlor is just a smaller room in any house which is pretty much the same as a drawing-room. But in England, it would be the first room guests would enter beyond an entry hall.
So we can say that it’s a guest room “drawing room.” But the parlor can also be used as a living room, which most people use for relaxing after dinner if there are no guests.
Similarly, children can play board or other games in the parlor, or you can place piano or any organ there.
Secondly, the drawing-room is used to serve regular or family guests, but the parlor is used to serve essential guests or office guests just like a lawyer or a doctor. Whereas in American Victorian the parlor in homes would also be where often the dead would be laid out.
An in European culture parlor (reception of guests) is a stateroom or throne room in a noble or royal household, where someone can receive and do business talks and meetups with official guests.
Drawing Room Can be used as Bar?
No doubt, the drawing-room is the room to which ladies withdrew at the end of a formal meal so the men could smoke and drink port.
It can also be used as a bar, whereas it is pretty awkward to make a bar in the living room. This is another big difference between “drawing room” and “Living room.”
So if you have a small kitchen and there is no space to make a bar, then at that point, you can use a drawing-room for this purpose. So after dinner or lunch, you can enjoy a drink and have some fun.
You Can Use Fireplace At Drawing Room
If you want to make your living room different from the drawing-room, then you can do some unique things in your drawing-room. Like you can make a fireplace, it will create a romantic environment in your room and provide free heat resources.
It’s especially an amazing thing for holidays when everyone sits together for a long time to make plans about Christmas and more. On winter nights, it gives you a comfortable feel while you are watching TV or reading books.
Final Words
It wouldn’t be wrong to call your living room a drawing-room because both have common features like you can relax, watch TV, make a sitting area, place bookshelves or any organ, etc.
But mostly the drawing-room is used to serve guests whereas the living room is for personal use. Most of the people also use the drawing-room as a living room.