What kind of room?

When my family moved into the house where my parents currently reside, there was a room in the house that was called the "keeping room" by the builder, agent, etc. We had never heard this term, but it was explained as a casual gathering place off the kitchen. When David and I bought our house in 2004 it also had a room on the plan called a keeping room. My parents' keeping room has a fireplace and comfy chairs, and it's where my Dad hangs out reading the paper, books, etc. Our keeping room is our family room. Our TV is there, and so is the comfy furniture. It's where we spend the majority of our leisure time, and since it's right off the kitchen it works perfectly! It's also a nice unimposing place to hang out when you have small groups of people over. I found a very good explanation and history of keeping rooms here.

I felt the need to bone up on my keeping room knowledge because today in Bell Buckle I found the cutest distressed-looking sign that simply says "Keeping Room." I can't wait for David to get it hung. It's so cute, and I don't know why I've always liked that name for a room. It does sound so colonial! I'll try to post a picture of our keeping room soon. We've done some work in there, and it's really looking good.