Dining tables take up a lot of space, and in a house as small as a tiny home, sometimes you’d have to bend over backward trying to fit this in an already limited space. 

The dining area is typically one of the more prominent focal points in traditional homes. But with such limited space, you can’t really afford to allocate the same amount of space for a dining table in a tiny house. 

Not sure how to fit a dining area in your tiny house? Look no further!

Fitting a Dining Area In a Tiny House: Is It Possible?

For a lot of families, meals are the perfect opportunity to commune and interact with each other. In a space as small as a tiny house, there are still ways to incorporate a dedicated dining space, without having to sacrifice a significant amount of living area. 

The key to fitting a dining table in your tiny house is using creative ways to conceal the dining area when not in use. There are tons of creative solutions you can bring in to make the most out of your dining space, from using multipurpose furniture to selecting dining tables specifically made for small spaces. 

Dining Table Ideas for Tiny Living

Eating in a tiny house doesn’t mean you have to forgo the dining table and just eat on your couch forever. We’ve taken some cool ideas that can easily be incorporated into tiny living, including specific ways to transform the traditional dining area into something befitting the tiny house experience:

Extendable Tables 

Extendable tables aren’t just a tiny house staple - they’re being used in small apartments, micro homes, and other smaller structures around the world. Extendable tables are great because they provide the space that you need, and then some more. It’s a flexible surface option for when you want to eat with the family or have friends and relatives over. 

Mid-century tables like the Zinus Jen is a great model for tiny houses. The minimalistic legs don’t add to the “weight” of the furniture, making the space around it look more open. This sturdy table can be used as a working desk in the meantime, and then a functional dining table come dinner time. 

Lift Top Coffee Tables

Let’s face it: if your tiny house is less than 400 square feet, there’s only so much space where you can actually eat. In most cases, this will be the living area where there are already comfortable seating options. This is where raised tables come in. In the day, these tables can be set up to function as a coffee table. In an instant, raised tables can be transformed into reliable dining tables, so you can dine on a sturdy surface.

Raised tables also have mechanisms that are easy to operate. They can smoothly transform from coffee table to dining table with just a few clicks. To maximize its function, we suggest getting a coffee table with hidden storage compartments like this one:

Compact Tables With Seating 

The COMFOLD Vinge is one of the best compact tables fit for tiny living. The table is built to function as a console, dining table or a smaller table all in one, depending on how you set it up. When not in use, the chairs can be fitted into specifically built compartments inside the table, leaving your tiny house clutter-free.

If you’re pressed for space, think about solutions similar to the COMFOLD dining set. There are tons of compact dining table options that seemingly make the chairs disappear so your house can maximize its floor space whenever the table is not in use. 

Folding Table

When we think of folding tables, we can’t help but associate these with the aluminum or plastic ready-made tables you buy in hardware stores and supermarkets. At its very core, folding tables are made for small spaces; whenever not in use, you can hang it on one of your walls or place it on some corner of your home. 

Folding tables don’t have to look cheap and out of place with your tiny house’s classic decor. The good news is that these tables aren’t entirely difficult to build and customize. This specific design is built with lightweight PVC pipes and a water-resistant table base for outdoor use. Here’s a DIY tutorial on how to build one. 

Wall-Mounted Table 

Murphy beds were the revolutionary space-saving bed needed by most apartment dwellers. Thankfully the same building principles can be applied to dining tables. Wall-mounted tables are minimalistic and inconspicuous. There are a lot of ready-made options online that can be installed in a couple of minutes:

Wall-mounted tables operate like fold-out tables but instead drop down from where they are mounted, using zero floor space at all. It’s a great way to add a dedicated dining area in your tiny house that’s practically invisible. 

Consider Customizing

One of the great things about tiny living is that builders are more than happy to accommodate innovative solutions to make the home more functional for you. Consider getting a custom-made fixture built into your tiny home. This way, you can get multipurpose furniture that fits your tiny home’s exact dimensions. 

DIY Tutorials for Tiny House Dining Tables 

If finding the right dining table for your tiny house is proving too difficult, consider building one from scratch. There are so many online guides that can help you create one that’s exactly what your home needs. 

We scoured the internet for a couple of these easy-to-follow builds and recommend the following DIYs:

Lightweight Table

Here’s a step-by-step video on how to create a foldable wooden table. It’s a great DIY video for anyone looking to build their own table for the first time. The materials are accessible and you don’t need special equipment to get started.

Wall Mount Table

Wall-mounted tables are a great way to free up some much-needed floor space in a tiny house. This specific DIY uses wall mounts as well as foldable table legs for added stability. This DIY is easy to follow and you don’t need special tools to get started. 

Finding the right dining table for your tiny house shouldn’t be complicated. As long as you take into consideration your space and its function, you’ll be able to find a good match for your home in no time. Happy hunting!

Read more: 6 Ways to Incorporate a Tiny Office In Under 500 Square Feet

About Us

Manuela and Ivan from Tiny House Bloom

Hey, there! We're Ivan and Manuela from Croatia, and we're crazy about tiny houses. We don't own one (yet).

This website is a result of our passion to share all the knowledge, photos, tips and tricks that we were able to learn while studying everything possible about the tiny house movement.