Could you live without a dining table?

[87mum]

Could you live without a dining table?

Current set up is - round dining table in the living room with 4 chairs that take up a fair bit of space. It's quite compact, well the table is but the chairs don't fit store neatly under it.

We have a 6 year old with a 2nd on the way. Ideally we'd have a smaller dining table but I can't find anything that would be suitable/I like.

For those who got rid/don't have one, what do you do with your children at tea time? My 6 year old occasionally spills etc and we've always had one even though it's mostly used as a dumping ground/can be quite difficult to get into due to the location it's in.

We've tried rejigging the room but it's a weird shape and we are trying, again, to make the best of the situation.

Ooh. I like this new poll.

If it's the only table in the house that you can eat meals at I would either keep or replace with a smaller one.

I couldn’t not have one.

Get a small rectangular one so it can fit against the wall with chairs that fit underneath or folding ones.

Dinnertimes around the table really help build family life, time for chats, board games, DS used to sit doing his homework at ours while I cooked dinner. Heart of the house for us.

Replace with one that fits against a wall and folds out

There is a drop-leaf table with folding chairs that fold up to be stored within the table.

Also a mid-century modern style where the chairs fit exactly round the table.

Do you want to share a floor plan or photo of the room?

No. Where would you eat, do home work, crafts, play board games?

Ikea do a range of space saving and folding tables.

Crafts , painting , birthday parties , teaching kids to sit and eat nicely , avoiding tv tantrums when they are older

If you can manage a table I would do so

My initial response was
'But where will we dump all our crap!?'

Personally I do think they're important, sitting at a table for.meals is a taught skill. In a school dining room you can see kids who are used to sitting together for meals.
It gives family time to sit and chat with each other.
It's a good base for focussed activities, family games, craft and, in the future, homework.

I've always thought round tables take up too much room, normally because the chairs don't fit under neatly.

There are some great compact tables where the chairs fit completely under the table. I'm sure ikea do a couple. Or a drop leaf table where everything folds and is put away,, including folding chairs (I personally think that's a hassle to then.put up when needed).

No - we only eat at the table, usually together but sometimes on our own. We also use to play games, do homework, sometimes to work on.

Sometimes my DC eat at the coffee table (with 2 little ikea chairs) but I wouldn't get rid of the dining table entirely, we use it for eating/homework/craft or big lego projects/as a keyboard stand.

I have the drop lead one. It's really good.

Even in the smallest house I had a drop leaf table and folding chairs. We also had a coffee table that converted to a dining table and sometimes for lunches or when just the kids eating they would sit at it coffee table sized with beanbags.
where would the children eat properly otherwise?
I can’t eat properly off my lap so I don’t know how a child would coordinate that.

I work with preschoolers, and the ones with tables have nice manners, use cutlery, drink from open cups; the ones who don't have tables constantly wander off during a meal, only eat with their fingers and don't join in with the lunchtime conversation. (Obviously I'm generalising but I do home visits so I do see.)

Well I work off of mine so no (I do have a desk but prefer dining table). We don't eat together every night as the kids are fed at grandparents where they go x3 evenings a week but I do still insist on eating at the table the other evenings. It's a dying tradition and it makes me sad.

The table is also sometimes where the crafty shit happens. Although I often use my (meant for work) desk for that 🫣

Havent used one in years. We don't eat together though so got rid.

You can get space saver table and chairs. Round tables always seem to take loads of room up I think.

We don't eat together though so got rid.

Ever?

We lived in a tiny flat when our 2DC were little and the ikea drop leaf was fine, fit just 4 people round it when opened up and if we had more (like when we ridiculously hosted Christmas for 12) we all ate on our laps

Not really in the house. Christmas day maybe.

We don't use ours all that often but I like to have it for regular Sunday dinners etc the rest of the time we have a large breakfast bar in the kitchen and that's where most people sit.

Where/how are you going to eat? with plates on your knees?

I assume your kids will also want somewhere to use colouring books, games and so on.

There are plenty of small tables for sale. Or something you can fold.

Couldn't live without ours. How else would we model table manners and have family conversation over dinner? My son often sits at the dining table for play with his kinetic sand or Playdoh whilst I'm cooking too.

Then again I'm not sure I've eaten a meal on a sofa since I was a student so I might not be the best person to ask.

You can get some really compact ones. I definitely wouldn't get rid completely.

https://www.wayfair.co.uk/furniture/pdp/17-stories-hateme-4-person-dining-set-u003907785.html

I would replace with compact table and stackable chairs. Fold out chairs are a nightmare for capturing fingers.

They need somewhere to write homework as well so it will have more functions in the next few years

We have better conversations when we all sit at the dining table. Ikea do one that folds down and you can get foldaway chairs there too.

We don’t have one, we never have, it’s fine.

Have you got room for a floor table in the living room like those that are traditional to Japan. Good height for colouring and jigsaws too.

We haven't had one since having our new kitchen put in and I miss it massively and it's only myself and teen DD. If she had been younger I suppose I would have gotten her one of those children's tables and chairs but I suspect that would be too small for a 6 year old