Article: FOR SALE: OPEN-PLAN LIVING Is this the new dining room? 'Who wants a formal meal after a 12-hour day?' As more of us lose the taste for formal meals, homes are adapting to new styles of eating.

Vanessa Brady has just finished renovating an Edwardian house for a client in Dorset. The interior designer took out five ground floor rooms - including the pantry, boot room and dining room - leaving a vast expanse of floor. There was a dedicated kitchen space, but the rest was open-plan and versatile.

"The way we design homes has been totally revolutionised in the past few years," says Vanessa, vice-chairman of the British Interior Design Association. "People want relaxed, informal, shared space, and this has had an enormous impact on domestic issues such as sofa fabric, coffee table design, even the way cutlery is sold."

Wipe-clean sofas are out-performing fabric ones, bar stools sales ...

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