279 Game Tables and Great Rooms

According to the Wall Street Journal, great rooms are on the way out, and game tables are making a come back. We have a game table/secretary which we think was made for my husband's grandparents, Stanley and Irma Byrum, when they married in 1906. What makes this piece unusual is that we have a black and white photo of the man who did the intricate inlaid wood designs. It makes me wonder if he was a relative, because I'm not sure why they would have saved a photo of the craftsman all those years. Unfortunately, water was allowed to damage the one side, inlaid with roses, so we have to place a book or lamp over that.

Some game tables are the specialty of Butler Specialty--desks and consoles going for $300 to $1400. Brighton Pavilion has $3,800 models. There are 65 companies now designing and creating game tables, up from seven just four years ago. WSJ article here.

I've never cared for the "great room" concept where the dirty dishes in the kitchen were visible from every angle of the living space. We rejected many condo plans for that reason. It was a popular plan in the 80s and 90s, so this condo built in the 70s was just right. To our surprise, one family here with our floor plan, gutted it and made the entire first floor all open! WSJ says "privacy" is the new ultimate luxary--"a room of one's own."