apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This might work w/a square or rectangular table, but not with a round one! The pictured arrangement appears to provide less usable seating area than a few extra chairs would. Plus it just looks awkward.

I think it looks super stylish and cozy! Less formal than traditional seating with chairs all around. Would love to incorporate this in my living room.

This would only work if the sofa is not too deep and cushy. It can be very uncomfortable to eat while sitting on something that's too soft. I agree with mirandabee, the round table makes no sense in this arrangement.

It isn't a sofa, but I just put the same concept to work in my dining room which is the same room as my kitchen. I took three over the fridge cabinets from IKEA and had cushions made for them to make a seating and storage unit. I do have a round table and I think that it will work just fine. I think that with the size of my table (50 inches) that I can sit two people on the bench side of the table, certainly more if I expand the table to it's full length of 9 feet. I certainly think though in an apartment that this idea would be perfect.

I wouldn't think many sofas would provide the support of a chair while eating. It looks messy to me.

I love this look!!! So different than lining up chairs around a table. I think this would encourage your dinner guests to linger at the table longer..

I do this all the time. My couch is low but firm, so I stack a few throw pillows to use as seats. The biggest issue is that the couch can't be pulled under the table in the same way a dining room chair can.

Unless it's an armless two seater, I don't think a sofa is practical at a dining table. Actually no sofa's at all. Everyone has their own chair where they can come and go as they please, and fidget all they want.

I do this all the time. We live in an NYC Apartment and don't have room for a dining room table. So, as part of my home office/desk set up, I got an IKEA desk with adjustable legs so that we can find the perfect height for the couch and various chairs. Granted, as the poster above indicated, it's not AS comfortable as fancy dining room chairs, but it is perfectly acceptable. It's not a very soft/cushiony (though very comfy) couch, so there's no sinking in. You can't sit back as far....but nobody has ever complained. And, the table's very light, so though the couch can't be pulled up and under the table, the table is light enough to tweak it towards the people sitting on the couch. The chairs are a couple that are pulled from around the apartment and two folding chairs that we store hanging on a wall in the kitchen. I refuse to believe that I can't have a sit down dinner party because I don't know have a room and table dedicated to a dining room. And if we want to have more than we can seat this way, dinner ends up being a buffet picnic!

Allicat, how do you explain that in a restaurant, everybody wants to sit on the banquette?

Many antique sofas are the same height as chairs - I have one and it works great in a similar arrangement. Get some comfortable upholstered dining chairs with armrests, and your dining room doubles as a living room - no need for another sofa or a coffee table.

It does work. I have a loveseat (with arms) with a round table in my dining room. The seat height is right, so that helps. We love to lounge on the loveseat with the paper on weekends. (EVERYONE wants the loveseat.) It changed the way we use our dining room -- in a good way.

Regarding the round table here... remember that people often use their dining table for more than just dining. You could seat 5 - 6 people at the above table (with 4 in chairs and 1 - 2 on the sofa). No, you would not line up 4 people on the sofa for dining. But you might for a party.

ladymantle, people behave differently in a restaurant than they do at home. They sit down, they're waited on, and they're expected to leave when they finish dining. There's no need to get up and get an extra napkin or fork, or to answer the phone or the doorbell, or to let the dog out or deal with a small child.

And the reason so many people like to sit on banquettes in restaurants is because they're usually in a booth, which affords a lot more privacy in a public area, or they're against walls and people generally are more comfortable when they can see what's going on in the whole room. In your own home, there are no strangers sitting at another table a few feet away.

Notice that this isn't a low, deep, slouchy sofa - which wouldn't work well at all...
...but an upright, shallow, firm piece - rather like a settee or banquette.

Even Horchow is now selling banquette dining pieces -
http://www.horchow.com/store/catalog/templates/P8.jhtml?itemId=cat8650731&parentId=cat8060731&masterId=cat000001&menuPath=cat000000_cat000001_cat8060731_cat8650731&navAction=menu

I don't have a problem w/ the round table aspect of this either - I think it just depends on what you want from your dining area.

Off the topic: Anyone know where I can get that rug?

I got a love seat from overstock.com and changed the legs, making them taller. We love sitting side by side on the love seat both on our laptops, then using the table for dining.

Looks fantastic, but another reader pointed out once that it's a pain to get up from the table if you're sitting on the sofa side – especially if someone else has to get up to let you out. I think I remember them also pointing out another issue: you can't scoot the sofa up to the table.