To feel my house is too small

[Poisongirl81]

I feel down...maybe I'm being unreasonable. I have just finally bought my own house but I'm struggling...its small and we can't even fit a dining table in the kitchen! I've just been to a friend's house who has a lovely home and I'm just feeling very envious. This place is a constant tip...we have a lovely garden but it's the eating situation that's bothering me.

Is fitting a dinning table in the kitchen usual? I don't know anyone with a table in the kitchen.

Sounds like you need a declutter first if you feel its a tip. Is there not room for a table in the living room? Or even a 2 seater table in the kitchen? Are these feelings normal for you or just about the house?

Pics please

We can all suggest things - like a fold down table like an ironing board

Dividing sitting room in half with table at one end?

Small living on Pinterest or houzz have zillions of ideas

Do you have room for one of those wall mounted drop down tables?
I think a day spent doing research in somewhere like IKEA, specifically looking at the mock-up rooms of small kitchens / living rooms etc would be really useful to come up with ideas about how best to arrange the space you have.

The up side is, it is YOUR house and you get to make the changes needed in order to make it more comfortable, unlike renting where you are at the mercy of a landlord etc.

My living room is carpeted so I wouldn't really like a table in there I don't think...but those fold down things sound quite a good idea....

Also since you are lucky enough to have a lovely garden, create a cosy section and have a table out there and eat out as often as you can!

We have friends who have a town house with an elevated garden at the back. Immediately outside the back door is a tiny yard with the steps up to the garden, it is surrounded on 3 sides by walls which they have painted lovely colours and they have lots of pot plants and trailing creepers and a table and chairs out there. It is so protected from wind that you can eat out more than you would think and it is just lovely...

Table in the front room? We had one in our carpeted room in our flat.

Have a huge deal clutter, sound like you have too much stuff.

I have one of these tables in the main room (normally folded)
www.harveysfurniture.co.uk/toulouse-flip-top-dining-table/#/details/

And then I have some stacked dinning chairs in the cupboard under the stairs to save on space.

My house is a very strange shape in the kitchen. It's an old house and has weird cupboards sticking out which aren't needed. Maybe if I got rid of that it would make more room but I really wouldn't know where to start with knocking walls down.

There's a small utility room but has no windows and it's full of coats and shoes...so would be odd putting a table in there

We need a floorplan! But the actual answer is, no house is too small, you just have to adapt the way you live to fit the house.

Do you have a floor plan? Might help with creative suggestions!

How do I attach a diagram.. I'm on my phone and there's no option to attach one?

Are you on the app? Save the pic/floorplan to your phone, then at the bottom of the reply screen there's a paper clip button. Click on that, add the picture :)

You don't want a table on your carpet? come on OP work with us!

On app but no paperclip button..

It's a light carpet and with 2 young kids it would just get ruined I think

Floor plan needed!

Also you can get plastic carpet protectors, or buy a really big cheap rug/carpet off cut to go under the table in the sitting room.

Also - table outside, cushions and blankets and nice lanterns and have romantic outside meals all the time!

Big cheap rug/plasticky mat under table until kids are bigger. Ta-da.

I had a carpeted dining room in my old house and put down some big splash mats under my children's chairs to protect the floor. Otherwise reconfiguring the kitchen sounds like a good plan.

OP there are strong plastic sheets you can buy specially to stand your table on to protect your carpet when you have young messy eaters in the house

We have same problem. The kitchen has 4 units, oven and a sink. Cream lounge carpet ripped out, wood floor down. Problem (almost) solved! Our house is teeny and the 5 of us are bursting out of it but we can't afford anything bigger right now. We eat in the garden A LOT!

I have this. Quite functional. For chairs I have ikea folding ones and keep a few spares in a cupboard.
Ikea does some very cheap rugs, think £30 that could go under the table if you're worried about your carpet.

To add a picture - click reply, then the paperclip and then a box should appear with a plus symbol. Click that and it will take you to your photos. Just select the photo you want to add (check it's nothing naughty and then click send) -