How to Extend a Small Eating Area
When living in a small space, you can’t always have full-sized furniture. For instance, a six-person dining table in a small apartment would take up wayyy too much room, especially since you usually eat dinner on the couch only need seating for one or two people!
Extending Your Dining Space
The solution: convertible furniture — in this case, some sort of folding, extendable, or drop-leaf table. IKEA, Wayfair, and Amazon often have good small-space furniture pieces, but I always check my local second-hand markets and thrift stores before purchasing anything new. We found our great little drop-leaf table at ReStore for about $150!
Once you pull out those leaves you need to add some extra seating, which is where folding chairs come in. They are SO handy and can definitely be found secondhand - people ALWAYS seem to have random collections of chairs to get rid of.
We found a couple iconic Winsome chairs on Facebook Marketplace. They match the table and fold down compactly, but unfortunately (or maybe not, if you discourage lingering 😉) they’re not that comfortable. You can look for a padded option instead, but if you’re just makin’ do, these widely available torture devices Winsome chairs will do the trick!
Design is in the Details
When we transition to our “hosting” setup, we whip out the extra placemats and pull out the light. Rather than leave our little basket pendant awkwardly hangin’ by the wall, we simply installed an extra ceiling hook to centre over the table in its pulled-out position.
Lighting is KEY to creating comfort and ambience in a space, so be sure to have something OTHER than ceiling lights to illuminate your dining space in the evening.
Storing Extra Chairs
Okay okay, I KNOW you wanna chuck your Winsomes over the balcony, but wait till you have a bigger apartment!! They’re handy in the meantime. 😉
Look around for any unused nooks & crannies. You can slip extra chairs under your couch or bed, or hide them along the side / back of a closet. If your table set-up allows it, you could store them between the table and the wall. If your chairs are in good shape, you could even mount them to the wall, doubling as an artistic installation.
We happened to have a little wedge o’ space beside our kitchen extension, so that’s where we stash ours.
For 1-2 People
For 3-4 People
So there you have it folks! I Hope this post gave you a few ideas on how to cram that extra friend or two into your humble dining space.
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