Are kitchen tables obsolete in today’s modern homes? Are the kitchen dining cabinets still in use? There are two reasons for asking this question: the growing popularity of islands that incorporate breakfast bars in larger kitchens, and the trend toward open areas in smaller and even medium-sized homes.

Kitchen tables and dining tables

In the past, it was not uncommon for most meals to be made in the kitchen. Even if a family had a separate dining room, it was often reserved for formal dinners and special occasions, while family meals were eaten at the kitchen table. The dining room table was of a higher quality, often highly polished in the French style, and of fixed dimensions.

Kitchen tables came in a wide range of styles, sizes, and finishes, and are still available today. Mission-style dining tables, for example, are often primarily a table resting on four simple legs. Such tables would be in the kitchen surrounded by as many chairs as people inhabit the house. They would be used for all family meals.

Adjustable Tables

This is fine if the kitchen is large enough to accommodate a full-size table and still leaves enough room for cooking, prepping, and the other 101 tasks that go on in the kitchen. For smaller kitchens, the table should take up less space. These come in the form of extendable or adjustable tables.

There are several types of these, including door leg tables where a leaf is attached to the table via hinges and lifts up when required. It rests on one or two legs that are also articulated to be removed to support the flap. Another type involves additional leaves that can be fitted into a space formed by separating two parts of the main table.

There are other types of expansion mechanisms also in use today, both for kitchen tables and formal dining tables where available space is limited. When a room is multifunctional, it makes sense to only use a full-size table when it’s in use.

Breakfast bars and kitchen islands

In today’s rushed age, fewer people sit down for a formal breakfast as a family. They often eat individually and sadly the need for a family size kitchen table is diminishing. Breakfast bars have become more common, where people sit on high seats or bar stools on a ledge against a wall or at a kitchen island. This design is likely to make them eat as quickly as possible!

Kitchen islands are designed to sit in the center of the kitchen floor area, offering access to all four sides. Sometimes one side is recessed to give more legroom, although this is not essential. An added benefit is the extra storage space offered by the kitchen island. This can be provided in the form of cabinets, drawers, wine racks, cutlery and knife storage, etc. Some incorporate a sink and faucet, while others have a built-in butcher block on top, or sometimes both!

open plan layouts

In open plan layouts, the kitchen often shares a space with the main living or dining areas, or even both in some cases. In such situations, you’ll often find a breakfast bar built into the kitchen island and a more formal dining table in the main living room or dining room.

With such open arrangements, people may think that two tables would look out of place. The kitchen island makes the most of the open space in the cooking area and is sometimes fitted with a cooktop and extractor and duct just above it.

Are the kitchen and dining room furniture still in use?

Kitchen dining room furniture continues to sell well and is still widely used despite the modern trends mentioned above. Simple, handcrafted Mission and Amish designs are popular, and the old-fashioned rustic style of pioneer log tables and benches are also on sale. Double pedestal and trestle tables are popular for large kitchens and some kitchen islands are designed as a table top with storage below. Extra end flaps are sometimes provided to lift them up when more eating space is required.

recommendations

The traditional kitchen table is alive and well, although not as many are in use as a generation ago. Smaller kitchens, open layouts, and a fast-paced lifestyle have given rise to the breakfast bar for breakfast and casual dining.

Formal dining tables tend to be restricted to formal dining rooms or dining areas within an open plan structure. Kitchen dining furniture is usually limited to breakfast bars. However, in larger kitchens, kitchen tables are alive and well and are still available in several different styles and designs.