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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To live without a dining table??

263 replies

inmyshoos · 05/12/2020 12:07

Can't fit in a dining table in our new house. We have a massive corner sofa and it barely fits in itself. Aibu to just sit there and eat? I really love a table, feels weird not having one. Have even considered weird coffee tables that convert to dining tables but they look weird as heck.

Will I desperately miss a table? Aibu to think we can live without one?

Our dining table is old and cost 50 quid second hand, our sofa was 3k.Confused

OP posts:
mildlymiffed · 05/12/2020 12:08

Would a gate leg table work? Tucked up against a wall when you're not using it?

formerbabe · 05/12/2020 12:10

Do you have children? Dh and I eat most our meals inn the sofa but the dc eat their dinner every night at the table and family meals are at the table. I could live without a table if I didn't have dc. We also use it for crafts, homework etc

emmathedilemma · 05/12/2020 12:10

I'd hate not to have a table, there's some many things wrong about eating off your knee and if you have kids it's impossible for them to do, and you can't really invite people round for dinner. Could you not have bought a smaller sofa?

Bagelsandbrie · 05/12/2020 12:11

We don’t have a table. We have tons of room for one but every time we’ve had one it never gets used as everyone likes to sit on the sofa and eat.

Fuzzywuzzyface · 05/12/2020 12:13

It is actually better for your digestion to eat at a table and if you have children especially pre school it teaches valuable social skills.
We wouldn't be without one.

Ifailed · 05/12/2020 12:13

just eat take-away meals in the car and through the packaging out of the window, that's what everyone round here seems to do.

SlightDrizzle · 05/12/2020 12:13

I don’t have a dining room, so don’t have a ‘dining table’, but we all eat at the kitchen table, have people around for dinner at it, DS does his homework at it etc. No, could absolutely not do without it, and while obviously eating the occasional meal on the sofa is fine, but not as a general thing.

Buy a smaller sofa?

Varjakpaw · 05/12/2020 12:14

I'd sell the sofa rather than go without a table tbh.

Europilgrim · 05/12/2020 12:15

I'd sell the sofa rather than go without a table tbh
Me too.

FinallyFluid · 05/12/2020 12:16

@Varjakpaw

I'd sell the sofa rather than go without a table tbh.
This
SameToo · 05/12/2020 12:16

Eating dinner on the sofa is grim. Get a folding table.

Pumkinseed · 05/12/2020 12:17

I never get people who will have a massive sofa but no dining table. Eating on the sofa? yuk. I'd rather swap the sofa for something smaller but eat in a civilised way. But that's me.

I assume you mean you don't have a kitchen table either (we eat in the kitchen, no dining table in the lounge).

DDIJ · 05/12/2020 12:17

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

Pumkinseed · 05/12/2020 12:18

I got rid of mine but we don't have a sofa either.

where do you sit to eat?

MasterBruceBalloon · 05/12/2020 12:19

We have a table but have had to use it for work. So now we eat on the sofa. My child eats at the coffee table, which is the right height for her with a little chair. It is what it is.

AlwaysLatte · 05/12/2020 12:20

I could never not have a table. Years ago I didn't have much space for one so I had a drop leaf one which takes up a fraction of the space when not in use.

custardbear · 05/12/2020 12:21

Can you do something in the kitchen? Eating on the sofa is so restrictive if you have company, also if you have kids I'd be definitely ensuring there was a table, or breakfast bar somewhere so they learn to eat properly

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 05/12/2020 12:21

Fine if no children, I never had a dining table in my flat before having kids

DryIce · 05/12/2020 12:23

Isn't is messy and uncomfortable eating on the sofa? I'd hate to do it permanently, it feels somehow uncivilised and unsociable!

I wouldn't be against getting rid of the dining table if you had a kitchen table or island with chairs you could eat off. But I wouldn't do it to eat every meal on the sofa.

Katyy · 05/12/2020 12:24

I have a very small house, just the two of us. We have a garden table which we keep outside if we have visitors we bring it in, put a nice tablecloth on it 😃

TheGriffle · 05/12/2020 12:24

We couldn’t be without a table. We didn’t buy an otherwise perfect house because it had no space for a table.

Shinyletsbebadguys · 05/12/2020 12:26

Another one for it depends on your children and their age. Mine are 8 and 5 and to ensure proper eating , table manners etc they have to eat at the table for all food. I can see however if it is just adults it might well be doable.

If I'm honest most weekends DC are at their df DP and I eat in the living room ,me on an armchair and him at his desk.

If you celebrate Christmas it might feel odd eating Christmas dinner on the sofa but in fairness that is only once a year (and entirely irrelevant of you don't celebrate it )

JayDot500 · 05/12/2020 12:28

We don't have have and it's bliss! Kids are still young, but I will get a small one when the youngest can actually eat independently. But for now, we are loving the space! And no dumping ground for shit!

Beautiful3 · 05/12/2020 12:28

I have a small house now, so got rid of our huge sofas for a pair of 2 seaters and a small dining table. I never eat on the sofa. The kids already make mess at the table so I can only imagine what kind of mess they'd make eating off their laps. It's not a good thing to teach children is it? Table manners are really important. I grew up with a girl who didn't have a dining table. I hated going round her house, and having to balance a plate on my lap!

Oysterbabe · 05/12/2020 12:28

I would get some kind of folding one. Will you sit and have your Christmas lunch or any other big occasion meal on your knees? Sounds a bit miserable.