Have you ever seen a kitchen without a kitchen table or some other kind of sitting/dining arrangement? Sounds awkward, right? Kitchen dining tables are in many household the center of the home. And oftentimes they serve a wide spectrum of purposes that are not all necessarily related to dining.
Even though in our kitchen we don’t have an actual table but a peninsula, that little area seems to be our “operation center” for the whole family. We leave notes there for each other, a hardwired and wireless phone is right there, my wife loves to use it was a workstation for her laptop, the girls do their homework there and the list could go on forever. In a way I am actually happy that we don’t have a traditional kitchen table and chairs arrangement, because just looking at our dining room table and how it is being used for all kinds of other activities on top of the eating, I’d be concerned that it would get quite messy.
I remember when I was single. That was before I relocated from Germany to the United States. I used to have a tiny apartment and it was horribly configured and whoever designed the room layout didn’t do a great job, but anyway. Due to space limitations I had to look into kitchen tables for small spaces. Unfortunately, there was not a broad selection to choose from. I ended up going to IKEA because I knew I could find at least some cheap kitchen tables there. Well, I wasn’t lucky because even there I couldn’t find anything that would fit into my small space. So I actually crafted a retractable table myself to at least have something there.
Image Courtesy of hermes.net.au
As I said, I came over to the States many years later, got married and when we moved into our new house – which was also extremely small, unfortunately – we had to furnish the whole thing from scratch. So once again we headed out looking for kitchen table sets. Well, at least here in the States you’ve got a much broader selection for pretty much everything. Running from one furniture store to the next, we finally found a couple of round kitchen tables that looked decent and even more importantly, were also in our budget. It is amazing how much many you can spend on such a simple and basic thing as kitchen dining tables. But anyway, after discussing back and forth for about two hours, we ended up leaving the store with empty hands. In retrospect that was a good decision because only one year later we actually remodeled out house and reconfigured the layout of the first floor, inclusive of the kitchen. And as I mentioned earlier, instead of a regular kitchen table set, we installed a peninsula for space reasons.
Small kitchen tables
Not everybody has unlimited space available their kitchens to accommodate bulky pieces of furniture. Therefore, almost every manufacturer offers a wide array of small kitchen tables to their customers. So it’s definitely possible to nicely configure even the smallest cooking and dining area, you just need to look for the right things. However, especially if you have to work with limited square footage, functionality is superior to looks. A folding kitchen table might be the perfect solution for that problem. And to be perfectly honest with you, if you are a little bit crafty, you can easily create one yourself without spending hundreds of dollars. I actually did that in my very first apartment which wasn’t much bigger that a mouse-hole.
Kitchen table sets
The best bang for your buck you get with kitchen table sets. The standard versions come with one table and a set of four chairs. The prices vary strongly depending on what materials you want and obviously on the size of the set. Ikea has a whole spectrum of cheap kitchen table sets available. However, the best deals you definitely get online. The only problem with making a purchase over the internet is the fact that you don’t get to see the furniture in person. And pictures that are posted online are sometimes deceiving. As a matter of fact, especially if you time it right and head out in the winter season, you can get great deals on all kinds of furniture including small kitchen table sets in local furniture stores.
Round Kitchen Table and Chairs
I personally certainly prefer round kitchen tables over square or rectangular ones, because I think they just look better. However, unfortunately they usually require more space because of their shape. In other words, they are not really an option in small kitchens. Another aspect that you need to keep in mind is the fact that most of the round kitchen table models are not extendable, which can turn into a problem if you need extra table-space when in order to accommodate guests.
Glass Kitchen Tables
Glass kitchen tables are the top of the line and therefore also on the pricier side of the spectrum. They are stylish, elegant and usually turn into a real centerpiece of any kitchen. However, there are not always the best solution. First of all, they show dirt and stains very easily especially in daylight. Secondly, especially in the kitchen where there usually is a lot of commotion and hassle, little accidents happen more frequently. A glass dining table is simply more susceptible to get damaged than a traditional kitchen table made of wood or plastic.
Drop Leaf Kitchen Table
This is it! Drop leaf kitchen tables are the ideal space safer solution if you can’t fit a regular table. But if you ever need to extra space, all you need is to pull up the dropped part of the table surface to get some additional table space. Go online and check for some special deals. But no matter what type of kitchen table you are looking for, make sure that you take correct measurements. Also, if you are like me and have difficulties picturing things in your head, get somebody else to help you with the purchase.