What do we do re our dinner table at Christmas?

[MorningActivity]

We have a table that sits 4 people comfortably. The ends are round/oval.
There will be 6 of us at Christmas.
Any ideas of what we could do?

Id rather avoid getting a new table (or similar) just for that….

Sorry not sure if I was clear. The issue with the end of the babble being like half moon is that we can’t just add a small table/extension at the end.

Just squish everyone round it? Squishing at Christmas is pretty standard surely. If needed, leaving all the serving dishes on a different table or in the kitchen and people help themselves from there. Makes more space on table.

We have had 12 around a table designed for 6 at Christmas before. This year it's only 9 around a 6 so positively luxurious!

most people would get 6 round a table for 4

get a couple of stools rather than chairs - much easier to fit in extras that way.

My oarehts are coming iver for a week. So it won’t be just Christmas meal but every meal during that period.

Squishing everyone is a possibility. I was trying to avoid that.

Put a table at the end and get a large piece of plywood that would cover both tables so they are joined together.

Buy a piece of MDF and sit in on top with a table cover

Would it be too much of a squeeze just to fit everyone round it? Its only 2 extra. I think at Christmas thats a bit of an expectation. We will certainly be bumping elbows this year even with the extension out and a separate folding table added on.

You can put the food out buffet style on the kitchen worktops and everyone goes along in a queue to fill their plates so its only 6 plates and drinks on the table. You don't have to fit the serving dishes out too.

If not then a small fold up table attached at the end even if your main one is curved is okay. No one expects perfection at Christmas, there's definitely a bit of making do.

Find some hardboard /plywood and pop it on top to make the table bigger. Use a fancy cloth to disguise!!

If you don't want to be squished get a board and put it on the table making it longer (protect your tabletop with something first), cover with a cloth and you have a 'bigger' table.

We just squash up. When we had more people, we dragged the garden table in and shoved a big tablecloth over both tables.

Agree with the squashing around, it'll work if the chairs are not enormous! I use fold up cushioned chairs that I got in the Range 2 for 20 quid a couple of years ago, worked well.

Unless you are serving up fully plated dinner, I agree with setting up a sort of "buffet" station with plates, serving bowls etc. It's the way to go. I used a wallpaper pasting table that I covered in Christmas themed wipeable tablecloth. It folds up flat for dumping in the garage for the Summer BBQs.

6 at your table shouldn't be a big problem.

Surely one on each long side, two on the curved ‘corners’ at each end. Everyone will be at a slightly different angle to give shoulder/elbow room.

I've just checked and you can get a small square fold up table for about £30. We have the bigger version and it is really handy for things like this and bbqs in the summer.

If you had somewhere to store your dining table you could always get the bigger one and swap it out for the week.

But really, I wouldn't be spending extra unless you're desperate to. A bit of a squash and a squeeze is fine.

Squish up, or look on FB marketplace there's often shabby old small dining tables going for 20 quid or less. Put a nice tablecloth on it then after Christmas put it back up on FB for what you paid (or less). Doesn't really matter if it doesn't adjoin properly to the main table.

We have had this problem though with more people. At my mums house we used to put another table at a right angle to the main table, sometimes on the end ( L shape) or at other times in the middle ( T shape) in order to fit in 12 people. It was a bit of a squash even so to get chairs round and sometimes people had their backs to another person but it worked. We also made sure the children were sat in between 2 adults as their little bodies take up less room!

At my house, my husband made a large table top that he clamped onto the existing top, it over hangs by about 2 foot on all sides creating a huge table to seat 12 instead of 6. That works better as there is plenty of room for serving dishes in the middle but it’s a bit of a faff to fix it on.

The main problem is chairs! We end up either borrowing kitchen chairs from neighbours or using garden furniture.

Oh wow!
I wasn’t expecting so many answers.

Tbh I’d have squeeze everyone if it had been first just one meal. For a week, it’s harder and my parents can be quite judgemental at times

But I like the idea of a bigger MDF board. That would work (as long as no one press on the end 😁😁).
@Ihateslugs how did your dh clamped the new board onto the existing tables?

@Ihateslugs a table perpendicular was one of my options. But I haven’t been able to make it work for us. (Shape of the room).
I need to check again.

And get chairs anyway. We don’t have a table in the kitchen just that one table so no spares atm

Just sit people at the curved ends. Perhaps you/DH if it's a little awkward.

Stagger the meals apart from Christmas Dinner maybe? Using the (replenished) buffet method! Put parents on first sitting in the best chairs😊

Are there children involved? If so feed them on the coffee table in the living room.

Yes, if 2 of the people are your DC can they sit at a separate small table perhaps next to the main table?

Or can you borrow a larger table from someone and dismantle yours?

But tbh, I'd ignore your judgemental parents. It's not very kind or loving to find fault with something so trivial, so I'd not take any notice of their judgement.

Do you have a larger garden table? If so just use that with a table cloth. Otherwise squish for Christmas dinner and maybe have other meals more informally - buffet style or eaten on laps or kids eat separately/on the floor with a blanket like a picnic.

We always add a very small table on the end
it really only seats 1 person for food (it’s like a cafe/bistro table for 2) but helps the rest of us fit our plates on at least and takes hardly any floor space up

Are you or DH any bit handy?

For securing a tabletop, I would get the bigger sheet of mdf, put it on the ground, turn the current table upside down onto it (nicely centred) and draw around that onto the mdf.
take the actual table off again, and even if it is only 6 or 8 short battens (pieces about 6 inches long of 2x2 wood - just cut down 1 (maybe 2) lengths of 2x2 from diy shop), make a bit of structure around the shape and screw down the battens to fit just outside your shape. (You need screws longer than your 2” battens but shorter than ( the 2” added to the depth of mdf,), mdf can come in different thicknesses).

Then, once you check on the floor that table fits into the structure, turn both right way up, and it should at least stop your top sliding on the table, and give something to attach a clamp to (you could use a cup hook on the outside of the battens and a screw on the inside of the table to tie something together to make it less likely to go up if someone leans on the wrong spot, as well…or use longer(deeper?) wood for the battens on the mdf to match the current table supports to clamp together).

I hope that makes sense, hard to explain without pictures.