What differences are there between "sitting room", "lounge", "lounge room", and "front room"?

Solution 1:

First, according to different dictionnaries I checked in, sitting room, living room, and front room are all synonyms of lounge. However, it seems that lounge room is not recognize as a term to describe a room in a private house. It would be the expression you use in a restaurant or a public place.

Apart from that I think people would use the words differently according to the idea they want to convey about the room: for example, in my mind, a living room is more generally the place you spend most of time in (in which you take your meals, read your newspaper, or sit in your couch to watch TV). I think its quite subjective.

However, I would say that front room and parlor cannot be used indifferently. I think that a front room in a house would be the first room you find when you come in. It is "in front". A parlor sounds like a very small room in a house and I am not sure it's often use nowadays.

Solution 2:

There needs to be a distinction here between British English and American English - and the impact of class. Lounge is not just for public places in Britain - it is an acceptable alternative to "living room", although there is a suggestion in literature that it did not originate as such until the mid-20th century. (see Carol Ann Duffy's poem "Litany" set in the mid 1960s where "The Lounge" is capitalised to suggest that it is a new, and unfamiliar, usage and possibly one adopted to suggest superiority).

"Lounge" and "Sitting Room" are pretty much interchangeable now, although the latter I think is decreasing in usage. "Parlour" is more or less obsolete; (With)Drawing room is unashamedly upper-class. "Front room" (as opposed to "back room(s)" such as the kitchen) designated location rather than purpose, although as in many terraced or semi-detached houses the room at the front of the house was the only one left downstairs not used for eating or cooking, it probably became synonymous with "parlour", or "sitting room" or "lounge". It was certainly in widespread use up until the mid-20th century amongst the middle class - my grandmother used it. With changing house layouts and designs, it is beginning to disappear as well.

Solution 3:

As a surveyor, I have to produce AutoCAD floor plans for different types of property.
With this I generally use the following:

If the property is of average size and has a ‘dining room’, I would then refer to the other room as a ‘sitting room’. If this property is for instance a tall ceilinged, well presented Victorian property, I would then refer to it as a ‘drawing room’.

However, if the ‘sitting room’ and ‘dining room’ are together as one, then this would be referred to as the ‘living room’.

Lounge is generally only used in local authority houses and the like, and refers to a room that is used as the ‘living room’ but has no dining facilities.

Large properties that have a formal ‘drawing room’ and ‘dining room’ can also have an informal ‘sitting room’ and also a very informal ‘snug’, but wouldn't have a lounge.

Solution 4:

As (I think) a fairly typical middle-class English person, I use "lounge" and "living room" interchangeably, but would rarely use the rest of the words you mention. Specifically, "sitting room" and "parlor" have an old-fashioned feel to them, while "drawing room" has distinctly upper class associations, and "front room" is more typically working class (and maybe also old-fashioned too).

Solution 5:

It’s interesting in that my mother, a fairly formal southern belle by background (here in the US), once our homes began having space for such, would typically refer to our room where we gathered, for tv and games, reading and whatever, as the family room (some in the US call it a great room.

Meanwhile the very formal room near the front door, and across the foyer from the formal dining room, and where those younger than 16 did not tread, she called the living room and sometimes the parlor. It was strictly for entertaining guests, no tv, stereo, or anything else. It was suitable only for conversation and liquid refreshment. Coasters were available, ashtrays were not as no smoking was permitted indoors.