We have a dining table that we never use for ourselves, but we'd never give up having a dining table because we like the ability to host friends and family, even if the occasion is rare or infrequent (maybe once every few months?). I cook a lot, and even though I'm usually just cooking for the two of us, whenever family and friends are over it's nice to have the space to put the finished products.

Yes! I recently swapped up a round wooden table with 4 chairs for a wrought iron "bistro" set - table and 2 chairs. I love the extra space this gives me and it helps to streamline the look as well. For me, this was a good choice. (and the cat can't do much damage to the chairs or table !)

My roommate and I finally decided to make our "dining room" an office space. It'd be ideal to have room for both, but it's kind of like that dress you just know you can't pull off; be honest with yourself, let it go, and revisit the subject later.

I'm the opposite. I am sitting at my dining table now. I just prefer a table to a couch. I use my dining room table for eating, the computer, running my business, and opening mail and packages. It's really the landing strip in my home, even though I have a foyer with an entrance table.

And I hate to admit this, but my cat has her own chair with her own bowl of water. For some reason, water at the table tastes better than water in the kitchen, and it keeps her out of my glass of water.

I saw your chairs on craigslist! Nice work on the new fabric.

Having recently renovated a small condo, I designed a larger kitchen and expanded it into where the dining table would go, opting instead for a penninsula with barstools. People always end up in kitchens during a cocktail or dinner party, so I felt the design would assist in with this, and make the kitchen larger and more of a gathering place.

My dining room is also my crafts studio (for polymer clay and jewerly making.) Just about the time I get all my stuff set up to work, we have company and want the space tidy, so I put it all away again. I never get anything done! But we actually only have eaten at the table for holidays and one dinner party in 2.5 years.

I'd love to see the bar stools you chose -- we have some from a thrift store that are functional but also not too comfortable. So far that's not a big problem, but I would like to fins some that are both...

well duh village if your cat uses the table it's important! I have numerous items of furniture that are exclusively for my cat's use.

Our main door enters into our TINY dining room. When we moved in we got a small dining table and although I loved that (beautiful vintage) table it was giant in the tiny room. We sold it on CL and turned the space into a mud room. We have an antique dresser to store gloves, etc. and a basket and nice rug for shoes, plus some art on the walls. The rest of the space is constanly in use by my two toddlers. It really was about using the space the way you live!

I've been able to ditch storage-display furniture by first releasing its gallery-museum collectible curios and baubles contents. They'd become meaningless burdens. Letting go resulted in open space in which to move, sit, and work. The increase in available living space made my home more comfortable, restful, and useful.

My tiny kitchen has, oddly enough, ample room for an "eat in" area. However, it has very little cabinet space. At the same time, it's about 4 steps to the dining room. There's absolutely no need to have a table in the kitchen so close to my dining table. So, instead, I put a butcher block island and two of those natural wood (same color as butcher block) storage towers (one has pot rack) in the eat-in area and tripled my storage and counter space.

I've seen the same issue a lot in recent "good question" posts here on AT - someone is asking how they can get more storage for something, and right there in their photo you can see that they've got a breakfast bar 2 feet away from a small dining table.

Get rid of redundancy first when you're looking to create extra space.

Yup, love this concept. Being honest about how I really use my compact space makes great sense. For me, the obligatory couch was what I let go. I'm not a TV watcher (don't have one) and my minimalist digital home office dominates my living room space. If I want to watch movie, my giant iMac is as good as any flat screen would be in this space. I have three matching super-comfy velvety upholstered chairs that serve any purpose needed. They are modern, cushy, stylish, generously sized, very comfortable yet good for the back, and lightweight enough to move into whichever configuration is needed. One is my desk chair, and the others serve well as both office or personal guest chairs. For parties, everything gets moved around anyway, for easy flow of food access and conversation. The bedroom rocking chair, tufted ottomans, and even the brightly cushioned kitchen chairs get into the act in a streamlined way, coordinating happily with various large and small tables. Ain't playing with furniture fun!

So funny...I just e-mailed you the other day offering to pick up the chairs and table on Craigslist in DC. Now I know the history behind the set. I'm guessing you've sold it all. Good luck on finding a chair!!

Hah! I have the exact same chairs & a matching dining table. I've been meaning to recover them and I love the fabric you used. What is it?
Thanks!

I went without a dining table for years at my old apartment. I basically just had a large coffee table that could accomodate six (or eight in a pinch) guests sitting on floor cushions. That's basically how people eat in much of the world, so it's not that big a deal for most.

I also had a folding table and some folding chairs that I stored my coat closet. It was an ugly table, but a table cloth made it perfectly acceptable for when I needed a real dining table.

I have a small galley kitchen- long and narrow. Kitchen at one end, and a dining space at the other (dining space is about 5' by 8'). With our Ikea Jokkmokk table and two chairs, you couldn't comfortably get out the door to the living room. so, I sold the table and chairs on kijiji, and bought a beechwood laminated 8' long shelf. It fits the space under the window in the dining area PERFECTLY. I used "L" brackets to hold it up (though, I must admit, I think my 30lb CAT jumping up on the table has bent the brackets a wee bit). I have four Bertoia wire chairs, and it looks BANGIN' in the dining room now. SO much lighter, SO much more space for when both dogs lay in the kitchen and (beg) stare longingly while I cook. Now to find the perfect rug... a lot of people gave me flack for ditching the dining room set in lieu of bar style seating, but with just my kids and I, it works great for meals, homework, or my laptop. If I had space for a dining set, I would have one... but this house I just don't.

I have the opposite experience. I'm about to move a dining table into my living room and the sofa & TV into a smaller room because I'm tired of cramming around the table in our small kitchen. Although I guess it is a matter of priorities in limited space for us too.

We have both a kitchen table and a dining table. The dining table doesn't get used for food much, but we do use it for computer work, landing strip etc.

I'm not sure what to do about the kitchen table. We never use it, but then what else would we put there? Its not like that particular space is very versatile.

You have to do what suits your house and your lifestyle! I live in a tiny studio and was pained to give up my table, thinking I'd continue to have dinner parties. I haven't, due more to time than to space, but when I finally get around to hosting, here's my plan: I've got my couch, and 2 loose chairs floating around. I also have two large, flat-folding side tables in an obnoxious shade of pink. When company calls, I'll seat half on the couch and half on the chairs, and spread the tables open in the middle.

In the meantime, I eat meals at my desk and don't trip over a table I don't have room for.

I've got ~800 sq ft space, an open design, a recently built addition to the folks house. I strongly feel several large pieces look/feel so much better than a plethora of small sized furniture. You should prioritize what pieces are most meaningful to you in terms of daily use and keeping organized.

I included an 8 ft kitchen island in my space which will house all my pots and pans, will also serve as seating while eating (so no dining table). But I did opt out of having an oven, using a convection/microwave instead (this also prompted me to gift away my toaster oven). Having an island also enabled me to relinquish some of my other kitchen counter space to make room for a tall pantry like space to store my appliances like my slow cookers, blender, food processor.

I've also got a huge black leather sectional and a parsons desk in my living/kitchen side of the space. No coffee table, instead I have an ottoman with storage and trays that can be placed on the ottoman or sections of the couch for beverages. Office stuff like files, supplies, etc. will be filed in a utility closet, will pull out as needed, then put away when done.

I don't entertain a whole lot but am a homebody who is anal retentive about not having things "out", prefer everything stored away. So my choice of pieces reflect how I will use my space.

That said, since I do live on family's property, I have the option of also using the rec room which separates my space and the original house or the great outdoors (tons of space outside) if I do decide to have a party. When I lived more an urban environment, I did love to live in a condo where there was really beautiful community recreation areas which included seating, a kitchen and barbecues near the pool area. I gave showers, had group meetings and birthday parties in those rec areas. To me, that was the best of both worlds, my condo could be for my every day but I still had other options for entertaining.

Visualeyes - I love your idea about ditching the tv. I have just a 32 inch flatscreen which I wanted to be my solo tv but my boyfriend is putting on the pressure to get a larger tv and put the 32 in the sleeping area (he would buy it for me as a housewarming). I'm resistant because in such a small place, I don't want to eat up so much valuable wall space with tvs & cable boxes. Really limits your design options if you have to make tv watching work too. Lately, I'm feeling more and more like watching tv less and less. If I wasn't already hooked up the family's cable, I would honestly be happy with just surviving on the occasional netflix dvd and on a nice large mac screen at that.

I'm all for using space very individually. More than one of my clients uses the designated living room of their homes as artist studios instead because it has the best light, much needed space, and nobody in their family hangs out in the LR anymore (the kitchen seems to have taken over in popularity as a gathering place in many homes).

I love having dinner parties, but living in New York our space is also limited. I found this awesome folding table at Target that fits perfectly in my closet. When I have friends over for dinner, I pull it out, throw a cute table cloth on it, and presto--instant dining room. Then when everyone leaves, it's back to the closet.

www.handjobsforthehome.com

this is exactly why I need to figure out how to put a couch in my kitchen.

We've recently added a set of twins to our family of 3 and decided to give up pretending that the living space in our 2 bedroom is a living room. From 7am to 9 pm, 360 days a year it's a playroom. From 9pm to 11 pm and maybe 5 days where we entertain, it's a space for adults - and we can set our wine glasses on a train table.

When we renovated our kitchen a few of the contractors we interviewed (not the one we hired) were adamant about having an island and barring that, a peninsula with barstools.

First... we don't have enough room in our kitchen to comfortably circulate around an island. Secondly, the barstools would be in the pathway to our sunroom (if they weren't pushed in... and you and I both know they would never be...) Thirdly, our dining room table is exactly 4 feet from the peninsula!

We eat all our meals at our dining room table. When we have guests for dinner we serve buffet style from the peninsula. It was a great choice for us.

Everyone should reflect on exactly how they use their home and what they want. Make your home be an expression of you!