We have had kitchens with & without. I personally prefer a kitchen table to the more "modern" trend of an island with bar stools. Kitchen tables are a great place to have a project going while you multi-task in the kitchen, family nearby (like kids doing homework), and efficient for daily family meals reducing your back & forth steps.

We do a fair amount of entertaining. I don't want a dinner party seated where I've got my cooking mess. Depends on your lifestyle -

I also prefer a kitchen table to an island with stools. My desire for a kitchen table changes with life circumstances and the draw of other rooms in the house. With small children, the kitchen table became the center of the family's living space. Homework, stories about their day, craft projects, etc.

With children grown and a great sunroom in the current house, I have less desire for a kitchen table. I spend my relaxation time in the sunroom today.

In another house and after retirement, I can see myself sitting in the kitchen with a pot of tea visiting with friends. Would definitely prefer a kitchen table top bar stools when life reaches that point.

I do love all the pictures you've posted here.

Your photos all show kitchen tables right in the kitchen vs separated by an island or peninsula. If I had a kitchen like that, I would want that sort of table. It sort of reminds me of The Waltons. I wouldn't prefer that to be my only dining option though. For dinners that are more than hit and run, I like a place to sit down and relax and have some separation from the sink and stove.

When we were very young, 23 and 25, we bought what could only be considered a "starter home" for $35,000. Within 18 months, a similar house was going for $60,000, and after that it got ridiculous. Then there were 3 children, the Reagan recession, a property tax break for houses owned before '78, and one income. The upshot was that 40 years later we're still here. We don't have a separate dining room or a den. I'm OK with that. There's a peninsula between the table and the sink which creates that DR ambiance (heh, heh, I used "ambiance"). In any case, it works. Are you thinking of the farmhouse project? I think it would be perfect there.

We had a kitchen table in the middle of the action in our previous house, and like it, and we definitely appreciated the dining ell off the living room. For one thing, it freed up the kitchen table to be a launch pad or buffet for company.

Bur for everyday, it was so cozy and friendly-like. The kitchen was small, though, so if a friend was over for coffee we'd move into the dining ell where we could enjoy its big picture window -- I had a rocking chair there -- and hear the kids in the playroom but they couldn't see us :)

Lavender, I always like seeing your farmhouse pictures; I can almost smell the cranberry muffins in the oven.

I've always felt that there's something uniquely intimate about a round 4 seater table. Unfortunately we don't have a place for one in our home, but I can't help but feel that family mealtimes would be even better if we did.

Your question made me think back over the years ... I've never lived in a house with a table in the middle of the kitchen. I was raised in two different split-levels, with the eating area separated from the kitchen by a peninsula. To this day, I dislike a peninsula--maybe it reminds me of all the dishes I was forced to do as a kid. :[

Although we've had a couple of kitchens that could have accommodated a dining table, I placed the table in a separate area. Until reading threads on GW, I never thought about what that said about my cooking style, but I was subconsciously trying to keep everyone out of MY work space. I now have an island with seating on one side, but the working side of the kitchen is still all mine. ;) I'm not really that territorial--my grown children often work in the kitchen.

My grandparents' kitchen had the (only) dining table pushed against a wall. We pulled it away from the wall every time there were more than four diners, and shoved it back when the meal was finished. Kids always had to sit on the wall side, because we were skinny. I dearly loved those folks, and loved their kitchen, but as an adult, I'll take my layout, hands down. My kitchen is open to the dining area, so even if I'm stirring something at the stove, communicating with someone seated at the table is no problem.

In that first pic, it looks as if the work area might be an ell, with the kitchen being big enough that the table is off to the side a bit--not in the middle of the action. I could live with that.

I just looked at the pictures again. Most of those kitchens appear to have plenty of clearance around the table, so even if it's in the middle of the space, there's plenty of room to work. That would be the main requirement for me, and that's why a dining table wouldn't work in my current kitchen.

mamagoose, that subconscious idea is VERY interesting.....My favorite kitchen of ALL time was on my grandparents farm in Minnesota. It was a long room, with the stove on the left wall, then sink, etc along the short back wall, then fridge on right wall. The rest of the space was taken up by the huge table with benches, because there were 14 kids, plus occasional farm help.

THAT is almost the exact description of my present kitchen, but mine is a bit more decorative, and my table is perpendicular to the work area. I love having the table (almost) in the kitchen!!

I have always marveled that my DGM cooked 4 meals a day for all those people back in the early 1900's. Her 14th child was born when she was 47!
PLUS, she took care of the chickens, and sold eggs.

Nancy

Nancy - you grandmother sounds like an incredible woman! And what a great connection in your kitchen!

We have a table, and I've never lived in a home with an island, they were all eat-in kitchens. I remember all of the holiday baking with the table, especially.

Our kitchen's small (13x14) with odd doors and a permanent island in the middle would always seem to be in the way. We ended up with a library table (sombriel mongrel suggested it years ago - we're really slow here), and it's really the perfect size.

I love that the table's very easy/flexible to move from center to corner. It's perfect for just the kids or for the three of us for lunch. For all four of us though it's too small (28x48), and we eat in the dining room. I think part of this is that we're still in process and haven't gotten the radiator re-installed, so it can get a little chilly :) And like mamagoose, I do the same thing with marking my space by moving it to the center. Then only two chairs on the outside if someone wants to visit, but no one's in my workspace!

i definitely prefer a kitchen table to an eat-in bar counter. With younger kids, the higher counter stools are difficult for them to get in and out as they please. And you can't look at them (in my case, also spoon feed them) during mealtime if everyone is sitting in a row. so having a table where i can reach across helps tremendously.
we use the table all the time for artwork also, or when i let them help cook.

One of my goals in remodeling our kitchen was to have a kitchen table in the center with plenty of room around it. I grew up with a kitchen table as the center of the family and feel more comfortable with it than with an island.

I did have to give up some useful counter space to achieve this, but it's working for us.

michoumonster- it's been really nice for us with the kids, too. Though mine are older now (no more feeding!), it's still nice for them to help and not have to use a stool at the counter.

fredanj - It's fun to see a more modern space with a table. I love the shelf under the cabinets. Is it for glasses?

Thanks, cookinofjoy.
All of my every day dishes, mugs and glasses are made of clear glass and we store them on the shelf under the cabinets. It's very convenient.

Thanks, cookinofjoy.
All of my every day dishes, mugs and glasses are made of clear glass and we store them on the shelf under the cabinets. It's very convenient.

I love a kitchen table. It is the right height for me to work dough and pastry (seldom anymore). I have a tiny kitchen and I still fit a table in there. I had it custom made for the space. I experimented with a counter height setup using those blocks to put under the bed legs to raise the bed up higher. I put the blocks under a small Ikea table I bought. Those blocks were a perfect setup to try the counter height table before committing to a purchase. I bought 2 counter height chairs, on extreme markdown, to complete the setup.

WE HATED IT! It was so exhausting to sit there. Who would have guessed that would have been my conclusion. We never felt that we could just sit down and relax. And I know it wasn't the comfort of the chairs, as they are the same style as my dinning room chairs, that I never tire of.

Anyway, here is a pic of my cute little table and chairs made special order from Gary Weeks in Texas. LOVE this set. Check out his website. His work is perfect.
ps. I should have got a drop leaf but I just could not justify one more $ spent.

And because I like to post pictures:

DD home for the occasion:

I have a table in my kitchen. It is kind of extension of my island. I really like it. I have never had a table in the kitchen before and family and friends will sit there when I cook. It is also great to put appetizers on for a party. I also have have a dining room with a bigger table.

We have a small breakfast table at our banquette in our soon to be former house. It's perfect for coffee in the morning, wine and cheese and crackers before dinner and snack time for the kids. I'll miss this sunny spot!

@pipdog - Where are you going? Someone is gonna be a lucky son-of-a-gun to live in that beautiful home of yours! Maybe that means you'll get to do this all over again in your new place??? :)

I know I posted a picture of our table in your last thread, and here comes yet another.
This is the place visitors head, passing through the family room, past the large diningroom table. They pull out a chair and park at the inviting round oak kitchen table (42" diameter) with its four old chairs.
This is the place DH and I head to sort and answer mail, ignoring the desk in the LR.
I would NOT want to be without either a kitchen table OR a large DR table--ours can be extended to take up to 14 people. But the kitchen table gets most of the use.

A kitchen table seems to say conversation and community; when I sit at a peninsula or island with stools, the focus is on whatever is before me rather than the people beside me. Especially true if there are several people in a single row.

The house we are downsizing to has a little cute table attached to the kitchen island. It's not a wood table, but I think it's still much better than having no kitchen table, or having a big island with tall stools. We will also have a wood dining table for 6 people in the adjacent room (behind the oven wall).

I will post mine a little bit later as I have to remember how to post pictures again but this is a great post as I have been wondering also what color and style were everyone's kitchen tables. Mine is a 42" light cherry stained table with side panels that go down to make the table smaller and an insert to make it 60" round with Wheatback chairs from Ethan Allen that I bought 15 years ago.

A kitchen table is a "must have", way more homey than a dumb island. Is it a requirement for a separate dining room? NO! (Why?) My dining room is not used anymore. All visitors coming in head for the kitchen table. Maybe they anticipate some food/snacks will be served? Ha. The cooking/food prep area is 18"x24", between the sink and the stove, and has been plenty big for 50 years of daily meals. The kitchen, and kitchen table, have been the most used part of this old house.

I'm with you old fixer. I just moved my only table to the kitchen. It is a small diner table that seats four. This table replaced a beautiful compact 1940's table that seated 6. after I bought the table/chairs I realized it didn't fit in my livingroom. I donated it to a charity, someone got a beautiful table.
I do not have a dining room so I plan to serve buffet style (during parties) on my increased counter top( an extra 7'!). I dislike counter seating(unless I am in a coffee shop, and I mean a real coffee shop not a chain pretending to be a cafe.
I too cooked for a long time on 24"x24" space(alittle larger than yours) between the refrigerator and horrible small sink, not 50 years though!

Oh and enduring, that table is perfect.

Eatrealfood, thank you so much for your comment. My DMIL served a family of 6 in that small kitchen that I show. Her table was about the size of mine, but it was a drop down table that was on the wall, covering a large niche (now made smaller with my remodel).

I have always had a kitchen table growing up and in my homes. It was great when the kids were growing up. Now that there is just my husband and me, we will be replacing our pine harvest table with an old pedestal oak table which is getting refinished. It has leaves for when the grandkids come, but it will feel much more cosy when made small. I am looking forward to a round table after living with the harvest table for so long. If your kitchen has the room, a table is a mustie in my opinion. Island seating cannot replace the feeling of sitting together at a table.