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.

[banivani]

I’m a big believer in decorating and having furniture that genuinely suits your lifestyle but this I don’t understand. Surely at least the option of eating at a table is useful? Or if people come to visit or if you need a space for work/crafts whatever. But sure, you don’t need a dining room table, just a table. There is either room in the kitchen or there is room off the kitchen. I’d adapt my furniture so I could fit a table somewhere.

[Hellotheresweet]

I absolutely would never sacrifice a dining table

I’d get a smaller sofa!

Every night children and I sit at table, no TV, chance to talk.

[JellyStrudel]

It sounds as if your sofa is far too big. I would sell that and have a table particularly i with children

[Hellotheresweet]

Also spread the weekend papers out on the table with mr morning coffee... bliss!

[VestaTilley]

If you don’t have DC and don’t (in non Covid times) have guests round then YANBU if you don’t have space.

But if you have DC or are planning them you really should have a small table to seat 4 people- good for crafts and homework, as well as eating meals. We eat with DS at our dining table every day at my insistence, and it’s great- we talk, no screens allowed, and he’s learning the vital social skills of conversation and table manners.

Not having any kind of table seems a shame.

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

Can't imagine not having even a tiny gate leg table.

Where do children do their homework if you dont have a table? And (covid aside) how do you ever have people for dinner? I mean are you going to eat your Christmas dinner off your knees?

[Takemetothebar]

I’m guessing you mean you’d be totally without a table? Rather than have a kitchen table but not a “formal” dining table?

We don’t have a dining table here, but we have a big scrubbed wood table in the kitchen. I couldn’t have a kitchen without a table in it.

[Hellotheresweet]

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.

Doesn’t really make sense to me. Why teach your children something but then never do it yourself?!

[Billben]

@Varjakpaw

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

Exactly this. There is no way on earth I would be bringing up my children thinking that apart from the odd occasion, eating your meal on the sofa is in any way acceptable. I’d rather get a a foldable table that gets put away after use. These are the children who grow up not knowing how to use a knife and fork properly let alone have any table manners 🙄

[Angel2702]

We don’t have space for a dining table, we have one small living room and a galley kitchen. We had to get rid of an arm chair to put a fold up table in the corner, but it’s totally impractical there is now not enough sofa for us all to sit on and the table is also too small to eat a family meal around. It is such a faff to set the table up as well, nowhere to store the chairs so it rarely gets used.

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

Bill Ben exactly.

[yelyah22]

Obviously OP is making a choice about table/no table but I love the aghast horror at how terrible not having a dining table would be in this thread. I grew up in a home far too small for a table in either kitchen or living room. I did my homework on a desk in my bedroom and at Christmas we either - gasp - ate off our knees or brought the garden table in and pushed the sofas up together to make space.

We don't have a dining table in our current house, either. No room. Both kitchen and living room are far too small. Spare us your snobbish horror...

[yelyah22]

But I'll let my mum know she was 'grim' and a neglectful parent for not being able to fit a table in our tiny house 🙃

[Shinyletsbebadguys]

@Hellotheresweet

*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.*

Doesn’t really make sense to me. Why teach your children something but then never do it yourself?!

I presume you deliberately misread my post ? I specifically said when my DC are at their df and it's just my DP and I at home ....we eat at the table with the DC when they are at home. I'm a 41 year old woman so have learnt the difference between the odd meal being acceptable elsewhere. My 5 year old and 8 year old are still learning that.

Honestly what on earth were you trying to achieve with your post ?

[Hellotheresweet]

@yelyah22

Obviously OP is making a choice about table/no table but I love the aghast horror at how terrible not having a dining table would be in this thread. I grew up in a home far too small for a table in either kitchen or living room. I did my homework on a desk in my bedroom and at Christmas we either - gasp - ate off our knees or brought the garden table in and pushed the sofas up together to make space.

We don't have a dining table in our current house, either. No room. Both kitchen and living room are far too small. Spare us your snobbish horror...

Just because you don’t do something and didn’t grow up with it - doesn’t mean it’s snobbish to think it’s sounds far from ideal to have children and not have a table where you sit and eat, but rather eat every meal on a sofa In front of a TV (on or off!)

[SlightDrizzle]

But no one’s house literally has no room big enough for a table you can eat at — it’s just that the people who live there have made different decisions about furnishing that room.

And I don’t think people insisting on the importance of a table are being ‘snobbish’, or not necessarily. Eating habitually on a sofa almost certainly implies eating while watching tv, which is strongly linked to mindless eating/eating beyond hunger cues etc. I think that having good habits about food are more important than table manners.

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

No room. Both kitchen and living room are far too small. Spare us your snobbish horror...

I would choose a table and chairs instead of a sofa in your situation. A gate leg table costs barely anything from ikea and folds flat to the wall.

It's not snobbishness its personal preference. Young children have a habit of spilling bits of food around their plates and its much easier to wipe a table than be constantly cleaning dropped curry sauce etc off a sofa.

[audweb]

I don’t have a dining table. It’s just me and my daughter in a small flat. We eat sitting on the sofa with tables in front of us. Funnily enough, she’s able to use manners and eat well despite growing up without one. Astonishing! It’s possible to do without, it just depends if you have space etc. I may purchase a small folding one eventually but it’s more than manageable without.

[Hellotheresweet]

@Shinyletsbebadguys

Out of curiosity, why don’t you when they’re not around?

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

Yelyah you show me the house that can't fit a table & chairs in and I will stand corrected. It's a choice to have different furniture instead.

[Chewbecca]

I'd never not have a dining table unless it really wasn't an option. Given you have room for a massive sofa, assume there is room so YABU.

[LH1987]

Totally don’t need one, we went years without one. Although having a fold up table and chairs is very useful for when people come over.

[Hotelhelp]

This thread is so Mumsnet.

Is it really incomprehensible to people that not everyone has space in their house for seating to relax on and a table of some sort?

We did have in two previous houses but not this one so we eat on the sofa every night and the kids sit on the carpet. Yes we have space for a fold up table but it’s unrealistic to think we’d get it up and down every night and storing chairs would be a problem. We did have a small IKEA table for the kids but they’re a bit big to sit at it now.

I can assure you, my children are absolutely civilised and we even manage to take them out to eat at places with actual tables and they know what they’re for and how to behave at them.

Would I prefer a table? Of course! I cannot wait to have a bigger house with space for a table because I do feel they can be the heart of a home but if we don’t have the space to practically house one then we don’t have the space.

I also didn’t have a table growing up and am perfectly mannerly and can easily use cutlery. Same problem when I was a child, no space.

[MikeUniformMike]

Get one that folds away, somethinhg like www.manomano.co.uk/desks-4586?model_id=8515356&g=1&referer_id=689880&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs82XpPG27QIVAdPtCh2O8AxXEAQYAiABEgJfxPD_BwE