To live without a dining table??

[inmyshoos]

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.

[kowari]

@Sweetsforsweets

And they’re not going to be in one room flats in central London

A single father and two secondary aged children I know are in a one bed flat, waiting to eventually be given a two bed. The father is sleeping in the living room.

[kowari]

@KleinBlue

For me it’s far less about table manners, or dropping peas down between the sofa cushions, than not sitting face to face with the others in your household and talking without watching tv or other distractions.

I’m assuming that the people who always eat on the sofa also eat watching tv, as most sofas are positioned for that reason, and I think that’s likely to make you inattentive to your food, and lead to more mindless eating.

No, we don't have a licence, only Netflix, and that's only on when the washing up is done as I can't relax until then.

[kowari]

what do you do with the other stuff on the table like condiments, gravy boat etc? Use them in the kitchen. I've never owned a gravy boat nor made gravy in my life.

[NeonIcedcoffee]

Lol at the idea eating on the sofa is grim. That's so mumsnet.

[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.

[kowari]

[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]
I don't think it is rare for families to live in overcrowded housing.

[MustardMitt]

It reads like you chose a massive sofa over a dining table

It reads like the sofa preceded the house.

[Runmybathforme]

I think if you have children it’s essential. How do you teach them table manners otherwise ?

[MustardMitt]

@Runmybathforme

I think if you have children it’s essential. How do you teach them table manners otherwise ?

You don't eat from a trough just because you might have a tray on your lap, or from a coffee table or whatever.

Lots of people on this thread without the imagination to understand that not everyone has the space for a table.

[Tw1nset]

@PattyPan

I couldn’t be doing without a table to eat at. We have a living/dining room with 4 seater dining table and only a 2 seater sofa because of how the space worked out. I think eating on the sofa would be too messy plus what do you do with the other stuff on the table like condiments, gravy boat etc?

Will somebody think of the condiments?

[blowinahoolie]

Have a kitchen table and dining table at home. Breakfast, lunch and supper eaten at kitchen table and dinner eaten at dining table with whole family. I enjoy hearing about DCs day when they get in from school. No one is allowed phones whilst eating together. It's precious time to catch up with each other and show an interest in how they are, how the day was, etc.

When not eating dinner, the table is used for arts and crafts, sewing (rarely!!), homework, boardgames (Bingo being the most recent) and putting washing basket on to fold up washing. All family life centres around this table whether I like it or not😂

I grew up eating round the table, as did DH with his family. We just don't know any different, really.

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!

[StoneofDestiny]

It's grim eating meals on a sofa - it's important to teach children how to dine properly.
Sell the huge sofa and go for smaller one, then get a folding table.
I'd rather my kids sat on a cushion on the floor to watch tv than to eat at a sofa.

[PattyPan]

@Tw1nset I know, I just meant it’s not very practical to not have a table! Pizza/takeaway maybe, but I can’t imagine eating a proper meal on the sofa.

[Notcontent]

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.

[MinesAPintOfTea]

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.

[CountFosco]

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.

[Angel2702]

@Notcontent

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.

Yes but usually the table is not large enough to seat a family around it.

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.

[userxx]

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.

[whatkatydid2013]

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

[Dontforgetyourbrolly]

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 .

[HigherFurtherFasterBaby]

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.

[SimonJT]

[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.

[kavalkada]

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.

[SimonJT]

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.

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

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.