At our old house my husband and I each had a table on either end of the couch and life was good. However, without getting too detailed, our new house has a sunken living room which effectively leaves only 3 feet between my end of the couch and where you have to step up to the dining room platform. I understand it is inadvisable to leave less than 3 ft width of walking space, so by that guideline I should not have any table at that end of the couch.

My problem is I like to use my laptop while drinking my tea on the couch, and I hate having to use the coffee table for my drink... we're living at my parents' house right now during our renovations, and with their setup I currently have to do this. It sounds trivial, but I absolutely hate it, and would hate for it to continue indefinitely at my own house.

Going to a different room or sitting somewhere else while on the laptop are the obvious suggestions, but not what I'm here to discuss. As it stands, I see my options as:

a) preserve the showroom aesthetic by excluding any end table, thus having to put my gigantic laptop aside every time I want to lean over and get my drink from the coffee table (not really an option I'm entertaining)

b) get some kind of collapsible TV-tray quality table I can tuck away when company comes

c) get the thinnest permanent end table I can find

Another option would be to put a tray next to me on the couch for my drink, but I don't want to take up seating room, plus there's a decent chance of the dog knocking my hot tea over that way.

So I guess the question I've come to is this: Is it better to have only a "temporary" end table that I can put away, or a small, permanent one, making for a tighter fit? Frankly, I feel like it is even more important to have an end table when company does come, since we have movie nights and people always made use of those end tables at the old house. Of course, it will look less nice, so it is a classic case of form over function... and in case you want to know where I normally stand on that issue, I have been known to pair my summer dresses with gym shoes.

Is there any piece of furniture that strikes a good compromise between form and function for my purposes? If not, should I pick a shameful piece that is easy to hide (and thus deprive my guests of a place for their own drinks), or else a permanent piece everyone can use, although it will narrow the walkway?

Again, I know this seems trivial, but at the same time, it should say everything that my parents are always competing for that seat near the lone end table in their family room! ;)