Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Common House tables and chairs

[Faria, Sheryl (sheryl.faria]

The Pleasant Hill Cohousing Common House Committee just recently went
through this process. We searched the C-L archives for any info to be had
from others' previous posts, and that's always a good start on any similar
question you-all might have.

We ran with the common CH wisdom (gleaned from C-L archives, of course!):
 - round tables are out (distance across tables adds to conversational din
and limits # of people one can talk with during meals)
 - rectangular tables somewhere between 28" and 32" wide (again not too
wide, to minimize raised-voice noise level and at the same time facilitate
conversation during meals) are in
 - tables supported by pedestals rather than corner legs, are preferable --
to minimize bruising/cramping of human legs when in various seating
arrangements around tables
 - comfortable (padded), stackable, and relatively cleanable chairs

We were fortunate to have some money in our construction budget for such
things as great/dining room chairs and tables. We ended up ordering them
through a restaurant supply place. They were effectively "custom," because
of the width we specified. That allowed us to choose table surface and table
and chair color.

A number of folks in our group wanted to have some smaller tables in
addition to longer ones, to make the dining room less institutional looking,
and to allow for more intimate conversation groups over dinner. We felt
somewhat limited, though, by our space and lighting arrangements. We ended
up with a cross between maximizing floor space and lighting over table
areas, and table size variety: most of our tables are rectangular (I think
they're 9 feet long?), and we also ordered several smaller tables than when
pushed together result in the same size as one large one.

One thing we haven't yet taken care of is that some people, for whatever
health/physical reasons, prefer or need to have chairs with arms. That item
is still on our shopping list. The majority of the chairs are and will be
"armless," though, as those chairs take up less room around a table, and
also when stacked.

The chair manufacturer is "Virco," but I don't remember the table company's
name (could look it up if needed). Can't recall just now the exact qty of
chairs and tables, but roughly we got enough to seat 56 people and the price
tag was somewhere around $4k.

Sheryl Faria 
Pleasant Hill Cohousing
Pleasant Hill, CA
(eastern San Francisco Bay Area)


 
-----Original Message-----
From: croneruth [at] juno.com [mailto:croneruth [at] juno.com]
Sent: Friday, December 07, 2001 7:25 AM
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: [C-L]_Common House tables and chairs


Milagro in Tucson Arizona is mulling over appropriate tables and chairs
for our dining room.  I would appreciate any advice on what has worked
for others.
Thank you.
R.Gardner
Milagro Common House Committee
croneruth [at] juno.com
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