What's a good way to expand my table for 6 to a table of 8 or 9? We can squeeze in 8, but it's tight. Any tricks or ideas you may have?
Seating Question
- Thread starter teachermomof2
- Start date
Back in the day, my grandfather cut a piece of plywood to the size we needed and he added screw-on pipe fittings at each corner, with pipes cut to size to serve as legs and plastic end-caps on each pipe to prevent it from scratching the floor. The legs simply added extra protection if someone got up from the table and leaned on it, insuring that it wouldn't tip to far. They covered the board (top and bottom, stapled) with a quilted-like fabric or maybe batting covered in a white flannel, so it didn't scratch their regular table and so it would act like table pads for hot dishes. If something spilled, it could easily be removed, laundered, and then re-staped onto the board before the next holiday. They set this board right on top of their dining table. I can't remember if grandma had a larger tablecloth to fit over the entire plywood table, or if she used two matching regular tablecloths. But it could seat at least 5 on each side, maybe 6, and 2 or 3 on each end. When dinner was over, the guys (grandpa, my dad, and uncles) would unscrew the legs and take the sheet of plywood of and carry it out to the garage for storage until the next holiday.
If there's any way to move your dining table out of the way, I've also pushed 2 banquet hall sized tables together (so the sides are joined, not the ends), with a tablecloth on each, to seat 12-14. If seating 3 at the ends, overlay the tablecloths instead, and put a heavier plastic placemat underneath at the seam to insure an even place setting. Consider using a clamp to keep the two tables from separating.
Another alternative is to have multiple tables and mix up who sits where, to give guests an opportunity to sit with people they may not regulary interact with (or, if need be, have a "kids" table). Maybe keep your table at 6 and add folding card tables nearby to seat the remainder.
I've also heard of people who use their ping-pong table as a dining table during the holidays.
If there's any way to move your dining table out of the way, I've also pushed 2 banquet hall sized tables together (so the sides are joined, not the ends), with a tablecloth on each, to seat 12-14. If seating 3 at the ends, overlay the tablecloths instead, and put a heavier plastic placemat underneath at the seam to insure an even place setting. Consider using a clamp to keep the two tables from separating.
Another alternative is to have multiple tables and mix up who sits where, to give guests an opportunity to sit with people they may not regulary interact with (or, if need be, have a "kids" table). Maybe keep your table at 6 and add folding card tables nearby to seat the remainder.
I've also heard of people who use their ping-pong table as a dining table during the holidays.
Depending on the size of the table and the number of guests, we either add another table to the end of the dining table or add the table to the dining space but keep it separate.
Yep! My grandparents did that back in the 1950's before Charlie Brown made it fun! My mom has home movies of it. The in-law suite with a full kitchen was in their basement as was a separate but large game room with a ping pong table. All family gatherings were held in the basement. Several table clothes covered the ping pong table.
You should show the movie this Thanksgiving
In our current house we just added a card table to the end of the dining room table. In our old house, the house my husband grew up in, we used banquet tables in the basement just like they did when he was growing up.