I've seen them do that on HGTV. The situation was a very large family with lots of get-togethers. If that worked out best for my family and my living situation, yes I would do it. The house should serve its occupants, not the other way around, IMO. No decorating move has to be permanent and we should always arrange our homes to suit our lifestyles. So my answer is if that's what turns her on today, she should go for it. If it doesn't work so well later, there is always Craigslist.

There was a similar thread here recently. Maybe if you do a search you can find it. We have a 26' living room and a 13' dining room. Our solution, while pondering a permanent swap, was to buy an antique Duncan Phyfe table that seats a huge crowd. We tuck it at the back of the living room and use it as a library table. When we have a crowd for dinner, we put it front and center--in front of the fireplace, pull up the drop leaves, open it up and put in the 2 center leaves and are able to fit far more guests comfortably around it.

I don't think your DIL will regret making a decision on which room suits the needs of her family best. As long as you're not talking structural changes, what difference does it make? It's more a question about function.

Off to try to find that thread.

Thanks, your suggestion is well taken, and I know my DIL loves the table and has excellent decorating ideas so it would look perfect. Now to convince my son! LOL Anxious to see what they decide!

I'm not much help, but we are purchasing a home in a few days where the PO swapped her formal dining and living rooms. She is in her 70s and up until now generally hosted the large family get togethers in her home. We are planning to convert the formal living room to a study, and will keep the "dining room" (as set up by PO, but originally a formal living room) as our dining room. My husband and I are looking for a 90+ inch long farmhouse table as a matter of fact. We have 3 children, so with 5 of us, we need something that can seat a minimum of 8 people. My parents dine w/ us pretty regularly and we see my ILs a good bit.
For us, it just seems like the best use of the space. In my ideal world I'd have some built ins put in place (not in the budget currently) so that the space could also serve as a library.

We flipped our LR and DR. It has worked out wonderfully. Lots of room, fireplace, and long, relaxed meals when we have friends for dinner. I love it this way!

My parents reversed LR and DR, and it worked out great. I was reluctant at first even though I was pretty young at the time, but having the extra space for family get-toghethers was worth it.

We are doing exactly that (except the table is not farmhouse). The dining room is too small for the table we wanted, so we're swapping the living room with the dining room. That way, hubby can hang out in the new "living room" which is right next to the kitchen while I'm cooking, and I can hear the TV from the kitchen

I love the idea if that will work better for them. Make sure you show us a pic if they decide to go that route. :)

I guess for me, no, I wouldn't change rooms just to accomodate a "find". I would change rooms if I needed to accomodate my family needs.
Dee

I agree with Dee. There is no mention of your daughter needing a 9 foot table or whether the table fits into her overall design or the design of the house.

Although, it would be great for laying out fabric while sewing.

How large is your daughter's dining room?

I have the Restoration Hardware 9' farmhouse trestle table that extends to 12' w/leaves. I didn't think it would fit in my 11' x 16' foot dining room but it works fine. It extends a bit past the room when we have the leaves in but that's only a few times a year. I also have a small hutch in the room but it's set off from the table so there's no issue with clearance behind the chairs.

I had considered using my great room as the dining room because it's more spacious but decided not to because we'd have to cross through another room to get there from the kitchen. My current dining room has a pass-through door from the kitchen so it's much more convenient.

I have a ten foot table in my 22x22 dining room and while its nice to have the expanse when making curtains :) it's a heck of a lot of table on a daily basis or if we have less than six at dinner. I take three feet out quite often because the expanse feels a bit cold for sunday dinner.

I dont think the swap is bad as long as the path to the kitchen isn't a problem, but I'd caution them on having a set length like that if they don't entertain larger groups very often.