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.

Personally I couldn’t be without one especially with children, in our house before this one we didn’t have room so used a folding table and chairs from ikea

Some of the comments here are hilarious- people are so uptight about such strange things.
OP don’t worry- lots of kids grow up in beds sits and refuges and never eat at a table. My friends can’t fit a table and they use floor cushions around a coffee table similar to many cultures who eat in the floor

As a student I lived in a HMO with no table and not enough seating. I got an adjustable height small folding table that fit over the bed or against a sofa. I mostly used it in my bedroom as the living room was too busy to study in or was full up. It fit under the sofa or bed when not in use.

I wanted a joint purchase of a fixed, folding table that would lie flat against the kitchen wall when not in use and some stackable stools or folding chairs. No one else was bothered and I moved elsewhere because of smoking indoors by the other residents. I felt much better in the new house as it had a breakfast bar.

My friends can’t fit a table and they use floor cushions around a coffee table similar to many cultures who eat in the floor

Oh god don't suggest that! The pearl clutchers on here will be calling social services for making kids sit on the floor, unless said floor has been steam cleaned, disinfected, blessed by a Bishop and hoovered for hours beforehand. It can't be anything but a table, there is no other possibility and anything else is grim and disgusting!

We never had a table when I was growing up , so I never learned how to use a fork ? I still use my hands to eat with and slurp soup outta the bowl 👍

I have a dining table, I have a breakfast bar too but I never eat at either, always the sofa! If people come round (not often to be fair and obvs not at all since March) we use it but I live on my own, it would be odd to sit at a table on my own, downright depressing in fact.
When/if I have children I would use it though, I’d have people to talk to then which is in my mind the point of sitting round to eat together.

Oh and oddly I have never spilt food all over the sofa, who are all these adults that can’t eat without tipping food everywhere?!

I’d be lost without my 8 person dining table and dedicated dining room OP.
Gosh I mean...if I didn’t have that where the hell would I pile 2 weeks worth of clean drying until I can get around to folding it/putting away. (Spoiler alert that never happens)

Yeah we eat 90% of meals on our knees. I think you’ll be fine but I get that you’re worried about not having one.

Could we see the 3k sofa please?

@CakeRequired

My friends can’t fit a table and they use floor cushions around a coffee table similar to many cultures who eat in the floor

Oh god don't suggest that! The pearl clutchers on here will be calling social services for making kids sit on the floor, unless said floor has been steam cleaned, disinfected, blessed by a Bishop and hoovered for hours beforehand. It can't be anything but a table, there is no other possibility and anything else is grim and disgusting!

I think it’s ok if the cushions are actually from Morocco snd not common ones from Next.

I find culturel differences quite interesting. In France even the tiniest of student bedsits have a table to eat at. A fold up table doesn't take up much space. But if you never use it then it is useless. It is your home, no-one else's.

Yes, let's have a look at the £3k sofa. It must be a marvel.

A huge corner sofa that’s really took big for the room is not a good look
I’d consider selling the sofa and trading in for something more appropriately sized for the space and also a table

I think the contrast between the £3K enormous sofa and the claiming not to have room for a table was the issue with the OP. She clearly has options otherwise she wouldn't have bought such an expensive sofa. That's 9 months rent round here, for a 1 bed flat with room for a table, or 3 months mortgage for our 4 bed house with 3 reception rooms.

I’ve always had a table, but I think a lot of the horror on here is from people who don’t think about people who live alone. You may find it ‘grim’ to eat on a sofa but if you live alone setting the table can feel really sad.
I live alone and, despite table, eat on my knee unless I have visitors.

@Diddlysquatty

A huge corner sofa that’s really took big for the room is not a good look I’d consider selling the sofa and trading in for something more appropriately sized for the space and also a table

Any furniture to big for the room isn’t a good look. It dominates.and no one piece of furniture should dominate a room becayse it’s too big. It just also makes the room look smaller.

People stop seeing it as a massive sofa and start seeing it as a tiny room you can barely fit your sofa in.

@cardibach

I’ve always had a table, but I think a lot of the horror on here is from people who don’t think about people who live alone. You may find it ‘grim’ to eat on a sofa but if you live alone setting the table can feel really sad. I live alone and, despite table, eat on my knee unless I have visitors.

But that’s because peoooe are making it about them. The op doesn’t live alone, she uses the words we and our.

If she lived alone rhe responses would be different. Folks have to remember the comments are aimed at rhe op not at them.

My kids all have a desk in their bedrooms, but even so, we had to use our bigger table so I could work and homeschool at the same time. It's hardly pearl clutching to prefer eating sitting around a table and preferring a dining table to make your life easier

We used to have a table where both leaves folded down and the chais folded up and slid into the table for storage so we could eat at a table. Now we have a bigger flat with a big kitchen table and dd and ds never eat at it!

Yikes. Wish I hadn’t opened this thread! In my circles we don’t have homes big enough to accommodate a table (small lounges and alley kitchens) nice to know us folk are uncivilised

@Planty13

Yikes. Wish I hadn’t opened this thread! In my circles we don’t have homes big enough to accommodate a table (small lounges and alley kitchens) nice to know us folk are uncivilised

So literally, your room is smaller than the size of a modest table? Or, as I suspect, you’ve chosen to furnish the room with other furniture that doesn’t leave room for a table?

It's really not great to have children eating meals on their laps. Also where do they do homework?

Meal times are where children learn about how to use a knife and fork politely, about dinner table etiquette and social skills around conversation maintenance and turn taking.

Not having a table really isn't very classy.

We have always prioritised eating at the table, all food goes in the middle and people serve themselves, surely if your plate is pre plated then there is a chance that if you are watching TV you will just keep plugging away regardless of whether you are full or not.

So literally, your room is smaller than the size of a modest table? Or, as I suspect, you’ve chosen to furnish the room with other furniture that doesn’t leave room for a table?

More like no doubt with the way smaller homes are designed, doors are in the way so even if you put a small table in, you've made navigation around the house more difficult.

Not everyone can afford big houses. Can we all understand those simple words or do we need to go over the alphabet again?

No space no space no space

And posters are snobby if they question this.

This house. Couldn’t get a much smaller two bed. Under £100k. Clearly there would be room for a fold up table

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/69592240#/media?id=media1

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86232067#/

This one

Under £100k tick
New build tick
Very very compact tick

STIL room for a fold up dining table!