Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Dining room tables

[Lynn Nadeau / Maraiah (welcome]

At RoseWind Cohousing, in Port Townsend, we have the same array of tables as we 
started with 19 years ago, and it works quite well. We have one old oak dining 
table, round, or oval with its two leaves added, and 8 IKEA tables. Those are 
48"x33", lightweight hollow wood w laminate tops (once renewed) in a neutral 
blond wood-grain pattern, with a cylindrical leg at each corner. Each, alone, 
seats 6; in pairs 8. They don't fold, but stack by twos, or with some 
forethought even threes. Light enough that one strong person can pick up a 
table alone; two people can move a table, or flip it to stack, easily. No 
tablecloths are necessary, though occasionally cloths are used for special 
occasions.

We often rearrange the room, for dining, meetings, dances, concerts, so this 
ease of moving is very helpful.

The rectangular shape lends itself to many possible combinations. A single 
table may choose 4 chairs instead of 6, or groups of tables may make a large or 
long rectangle for many.

A surprising discovery is that we can use the tables as easels in meetings: a 
second table is set on edge, atop a bottom one, with the upper table's surface 
facing the group. Big easel pages are then affixed to the tables, allowing 
eye-level display of several sheets at once.

I was on the original table-research team. If making a custom table, I'd make 
it a little longer than our 48" ones, to more spaciously fit two chairs on a 
side.

We have an adjacent outdoor patio, on which we use those round Lifetime plastic 
folding tables, folded away in winter.

Maraiah Lynn Nadeau
www.rosewind.org