To live without a dining table??

I think the reason so many people end up in this situation isn't that they don't want a dining table — it's that the sofa won the space battle and there was no room left.

We see this a lot (I work at a furniture company that focuses on small flats). The number of people who've sacrificed the dining table not because they wanted to eat off their knees, but because a standard sofa takes up so much floor space there's simply nowhere to put a table. It becomes a choice between the two.

The thing that actually fixes it tends to be rethinking the sofa rather than the table — a sofa with built-in storage, or a smaller-footprint one, can free up enough floor space to get a compact dining table back in. A two-person fold-down table against a wall takes up almost nothing when not in use.

Eating off your knees every night is grim and I don't think anyone actually chooses it freely — it's usually what happens when the room wins.

I dont have one. My dining room has had to be used as a bedroom and I have a tiny tiny kitchen and an even smaller front room with one small sofa squeezed in.

My kids are older now and eat on the sofa..teens..wasnt always like this. When they were younger we had the dining room and table and we always ate at the table.

It's a bit Marie Antoinette on here isn't it?
"We don't have room for a dining table"
"Eat at the kitchen table then".

There are so many folding tables available (cheaply) precisely because lots of people have limited space. A table is far more versatile than a sofa - for eating, games, homework, hobbies etc etc. It's not a luxury item.

Isn’t it hard to eat at the sofa?? Growing up we always ate at the table and now we do the same with our own children. I find eating at the sofa really awkward and uncomfortable. Surely you need to be at the table at least for meals where you have two glasses and several utensils? When you have company, will you ask them to sit on the sofa with their dinner on their lap?

I would probably sell the sofa (which sounds too big for the space anyway) and get something better sized that will also allow some space for at least a little table.

As a messy eater, a dining table is vital haha!

When we were looking at houses we were looking at ones with dining rooms or with a suitable space for a dining table.

We use it every single day.

"Presumably if people live in accomodation too small to have a table they won't be able to afford to eat out at restaurants regularly."

As another poster has pointed out, it depends how you budget.

I live in an area of the UK that has affordable housing. Large house for not much £££. Depends what is a priority in your life, I suppose.

@SimonJT I meant a flat that had effectively been split into two, but that would make it two separate flats!

I didn't have a TABLE at my old flat** 🤦‍♀️

Sell the sofa, buy a table and a smaller sofa. I didn't have a sofa at my old flat (we were there for less than a year) and I hated it so much. Sitting on the sofa to eat every night was rubbish; my back hurt, digestion suffered and when I was pregnant it was truly awful. Both of us said "I can't wait to move and have our own table". We've since bought a home that has space for a big table and I love it!

I grew up in the midlands, we lived in a flat shared with another family. The only place a table could be placed was the road outside.

How did that work ? Did one family live downstairs and the other upstairs? Were they strangers?

The OP hasn't said whether she has kids. She has said that not having a table feels weird. Therefore I'd advise her to sell the corner sofa, buy a smaller one and get a folding dining table.

The OP hasn't come back to clarify further which is a pity.

And yes, there is a huge amount of snobbery on this thread. We always eat at the table, but that's our choice. I'm not going to judge people who don't.

Until I bought this flat I have never lived somewhere with room for a table.

As a child we lived in a shared flat, there was no room for a table or any form of communal furniture.

17-28 I lived in flat shares, the only communal spaces were small galley kitchens and the bathroom.
28-30 I lived in a very small one bed flat, it had a very small double room that needed the bed pushed up to the wall and left no room for furniture apart from a very narrow bedside table. It had a small galley kitchen, so small the fridge was in the living room. The living room had a wall mounted TV and a small two seater sofa. To set up a fold up table and two chairs you would have had to stand the sofa on its side. Or set s table up half in the showertray and half on the bathroom floor!

I now own a decent sized flat, we have a table that my partner uses for work, we rarely eat on it as we tend to sit on the floor to eat with a dastarkhan.

I couldn't live without a table, but I understand there are people who have no use of them.

Just yesterday my table was used for all three meals, doing puzzle, baking a cake, cooking (I have a small kitchen, and my table is next to it, so I usually use it for all sorts of things), wrapping Christmas presents and doing activity book. Out table was the first piece of furniture we bought for our flat.

Through my life I lived in 18, 24, 36 and now 82 square metres apartments and always had a table. When I first married we lived in 36 square metres and we used to have dinner parties for four at out table.

But, I understand other people have no need for them. We're all different.

But OP seems sad not to have one so in her place I would sell sofa if it is possible without loosing much money, buy smaller sofa and a table.

[quote Sweetsforsweets]@kowari

Single dad with two secondary aged children in one bed flat.

Surely, surely you appreciate that this scenario must be very very rare.[/quote]
As someone who lives in London lone parents living in a one bed flat, or a flat share is very common.

I grew up in the midlands, we lived in a flat shared with another family. The only place a table could be placed was the road outside.

Not everyone has the wealth to have a spacious home.

I don't have a table at the moment (moved house, my giant table does not fit and as of yet I cannot find a small one that I like that is in my budget and can be delivered), so we have these folding tray things from IKEA, we sit on the floor and eat off them.

Sometimes we sit in a circle all facing each other, sometimes we sit in a straight line, DC like to decide how we sit, it's been quite fun

But yeah I really miss having a table and I'm hoping IKEA have some more stock to deliver ASAP.

Even when I lived on my own in a s smallish flat I had a table . It was folded away most of the time but came out for meals with company and was handy as another work surface .
Most days I had meals on a tray on the sofa.
I live in a house with my ds now but I bought a similar type of table from IKEA. We have one half open for just us but when fully open it can seat 6.i wouldn't be without it .

We spent our first years together in a one bed flat with a galley kitchen and our table was a bit like this one:
www.furniture-rus.co.uk/butterfly-santos-grey-dining-set?language=en&currency=GBP
You could put it up in the space between the sofa and the tv to eat/do work at and then fold back away when done. It took about 2 minutes tops to pull out the chairs and set up and when folded down it was really teeny. I find it hard to believe many homes are so small you couldn’t have something like this if you wanted to. So if you want a table get something along those lines and if you just don’t want one get a nice coffee table and little chair for any kids when they are small.
I’d hate not to have a table. We currently eat all our meals at the kitchen one, use the dining room one for the kids crafts and have one in a spare bedroom for doing Lego building that is doubling as my office while working from home. It’s also where we write cards, did schoolwork during lockdown/homework generally, wrap gifts and sometimes play board games. How much do you use your table OP? If it’s lots I think you’ll miss it so worth looking for a good fold up option

Presumably if people live in accomodation too small to have a table they won't be able to afford to eat out at restaurants regularly.

Other way round for me, smaller house means smaller mortgage and bills meaning more fun money. Bastard tier 3 has stopped all that loveliness though.

We have a folding table but we still can’t eat around it as it’s not large enough for 5 people. Now the kids are older they don’t want to be sitting on the floor in the living room either so it’s worst of both adequate sofa space and table space.

Nothing wrong at all with eating dinner in front of TV or at a coffee table either. Eating regularly at a restaurant or with relatives could easily teach children table manners, if you don't own a table at home. It's not a be all or end all situation!

Presumably if people live in accomodation too small to have a table they won't be able to afford to eat out at restaurants regularly. I don't really think it's about table manners though, it's that a table is more flexible and useful than a large sofa. A sofa has more overlap of function with a bed than a table if you are short of space.

Another one here who has always prioritised the table, from the first bedsit DH and I shared with a pull-down bed because there wasn't space to have the bed up all the time.

We play games at it, do crafts and eat.

For some of that time, TV and reading has only happened in bed, but we've always had a table and not always had a sofa. It's just what does your life better.

But given the state of DS's kitchen chair, he's not even allowed snacks on the sofa as I hate cleaning it.

I am very interested in interior design for small spaces and have seen lots of tiny flats and houses with very little space but they usually have a small sofa and a table to eat at, even if very small.