Help with small living dining space!?

Question

I have an area in my tiny apartment reserved for dining and living room, there is no room in the kitchen to eat in so I need space for sofa as well as a table and 2 chairs. One wall has wall to wall windows, the opposite wall to that is completely open to the hallway. The area measures 12 by 14 (12 feet on the windows side). Any ideas for arrangement of furniture?

Answer 1

I had a smaller space than that a few years ago, living in a studio apartment above a 2 car garage. There was not an actual "dining" area in the place. I solved my problem by adding a table that folded down against the wall. It was out of the way when it wasn't in use, and could be set up in a matter of seconds for dining.

All you need to make it work as a dining area is enough free space to fold it out.

All I did was screw a 2x4 against the wall with a plywood tabletop attached to it on a piano hinge. Underneath thay was a leg that folded from flush to the wall under the the 2X4 brace out to a 45 degree angle underneath the tabletop. It seated 3 people comfortably, which was about all the people you could comfortably fit into the apartment...

I painted the tabletop the same color as the wall so it was less noticable when it was down, and simply put all my shakers and other dinner "gear" on a small tray in the kitchenette that could be easily carried to the table. I kept one chair in front of the folded down table, and the other two in the "living area" about 7 feet away.

When I moved out, I only had 6 screw holes to fill in, so I didn't have any problems with the landlord over it.

-SD-

Answer 2

I think that I would place the sofa against the solid 14 ft wall looking out to the windows. The table & 2 chairs near the window to look out and enjoy the sunlight. Place the table & chair closest to the kitchen for safety sakes, unless you have a rolling cart to take the food & beverages to the table. for privacy sake you can place sheer material or curtainsor rice paper on windows. If you have TV and other components in this room, then place the sofa near the windows and the TV and Stereo on solid wall.