Try a higher, round table in a living room seating area with armchairs, instead of a low coffee table. Then the space can be conversation or dining.

i heart ken's table!

I am having this problem right now. My dining area inside the door of my new condo is so small, my glass table takes up the whole area and looks great as a foyer piece, but with chairs, not so much.

My living room on the other hand is 12 x 20, with the seating area at one end, and a 133" furniture unit at the other end. A table with chairs in front of the unit would look great, plus the view is great from there. I may move my dining table there, and then use a round card table I already have, covered with custom linens I already have, as a foyer piece. I don't want to eat on the linens. Glass is so much easier to clean!

I don't get the suggestion of using the dining table as your office. Are you really going to move the computer (unless it's a laptop) every single time you have someone over for dinner? Unhooking an entire desktop computer just to entertain is overkill. Like picture three - where is the person going to put all this stuff while he/she entertains?

I'm loving that giant calendar - source please?

If I had room for a craft table I think I would have room for a dining table.

Yes! Where is the GIANT CALENDAR from?

You can get the calendar at Crate & Barrel: http://www.crateandbarrel.com/decorating-and-accessories/office-accessories/stendig-2011-wall-calendar/s027308

I have always used my dining table as a double for my office desk. That's another reason to have a wooden or glass top. I have a laptop, on wifi, which can easily be put away. As for all the attendant clutter, in my last dining room, I had a small chest near my chair where I used to put everything away. In my condo, I have a wall unit with more than enough drawers.

I have my own company, and it is completely paperless. Everything is on computer, so I don't need IRL file drawers, or a printer. Clutter on my desk is usually checks or bills, the computer and an order book.

Two more possibilities: the coffee tables with levers that transform into a comfortable dining table and the skinny console tables that extend to fit up to 10 guests. You see lots of those here in Paris.

But if your place is tiny, a good option is to host cocktail parties featuring amazing finger food and drinks.

I had a dining table made out of an antique door (from the house where I grew up, so it's extra special) and because it's long and skinny, it's perfect for my condo, which has a shared living/dining room.

I think a desk can make a perfectly fine dining table.

Another idea, for the young and sprightly among us, how about a picnic on the floor. Just throw down a blanket and some cushions, put candles and/or flowers on a tray and have plenty of wine on hand. No furniture required. Warning: may lead to wife swapping. ;)

Along similar lines, think about hosting any food even that seems like less pressure than a capital-D Dinner Party.

I'm lucky to have a large enough space to host them now, but in my previous tiny apartment, I hosted breakfast parties (think crêpes, bacon, mimosas), lunch parties (sandwiches, chips, etc.), and cocktail parties (cocktails and lots and lots of finger food appetizers). Everyone could eat standing up, sitting around the living room, etc. We always had a great time—who says you have to be sitting around a table to enjoy a meal together?

We have this problem in our apartment. Actually, it's two problems, really:

(1) How can you incorporate a dining table nicely into a small apartment with no dedicated dining room?
(2) How do you entertain when you have no dedicated dining room?

For (1) the key is a small table that can be integrated with style into another room. Round tables are great - we have a round walnut expandable table and turned an awkwardly long foyer into a very narrow dining area with the table, an antique runner and a pendant lamp. It works.

However, let's be realistic, for (2) it's very hard to entertain formally at a small table. You can do a romantic dinner, or have one or two friends, but anything larger gets horribly cramped at a small table. For entertaining, it's best to have a gathering that is drinks and small plates that can be juggled on tables and laps in the seating area. Learn to cook spanish tapas and other party food. We entertain all the time this way in our dining room-less apartment and it is way more fun than a formal sit-down meal. (However, you do need a conversation and eating friendly seating area - if your seating area is giant plush sofa facing a giant TV, or a $14,000 white vintage linen sofa, this won't work.)

For occassions where formal dining is not an option (Thanksgiving, Christmas) - pull the leaves out for your expandable small dining table and move some furniture to convert at least part of one room into a more formal dining area.

If you do a lot of formal dining entertaining, it really might make sense to dedicate a room in your apartment to a larger table. But most of us apartment dwellers host large formal dining parties only infrequently, and there's no reason to devote an entire room in a small apartment to something you do only once or twice a year.

Oh, I saw that table at our local thrift store. I already have a Danish teak table that I love, but that one was a beauty. What a wonderful find for the lucky person who picked it up.

Try a higher, round table in a living room seating area with armchairs, instead of a low coffee table. Then the space can be conversation or dining.
posted by hippyvieja

Wow, that's a great idea hippyvieja !

Mathilde is right - Suggesting that someone bolt a flip-down table in their kitchen isn't helping anyone serve Thanksgiving dinner for 12.

Rather than bemoan the size of one's space being unconducive to throwing a holiday feast, it's better to do as she suggests and throw a cocktail party instead where the amount of seating and size of the table is immaterial since everyone would be on their feet mingling.

When we had smaller places, we just tended to do a lot of buffet style meals, which is still one of my favorite ways to entertain--much less stuffy than many more formal dinner parties. But then again, I am a pretty informal person all around.

My dining table is also my desk, work table, and a side table when I have guests (that aren't dining). Admittedly, having a laptop helps with keeping it usable as a desk and dining table.

Hans Olsen dining set featured is fabulous. We have some gorgeous Italian tables which are genius. Literally a coffee table that transforms into a full height dining table. It even has storage and with no annoying drop leaves or middle sections to store. www.johnstrand-mk.co.uk/tables