The quickest way to make a temporary dining table is to place a rigid board on a stable support at roughly 75cm high, then cover it with a cloth. A folding trestle base with a plywood or MDF top is the most reliable version, though a pair of matching storage boxes, a decorating table reinforced with board, or two small tables pushed together will all work for an evening. The two things that matter are height and stability, and everything else is presentation.<\/p>\n
Temporary tables come up more often than people expect: a large gathering, a house move, a room being decorated, or a first flat where furniture has not arrived. Getting it right is mostly about planning the structure rather than improvising at the last minute.<\/p>\n
Dining height is around 75cm from the floor to the surface. Chair seats sit near 45cm, leaving enough clearance for legs. Any temporary setup that lands much below 70cm will feel like eating at a coffee table, and above 80cm people will be reaching up for their plates.<\/p>\n
Measure the support before you build. Trestles are usually adjustable and should be set to 75cm minus the thickness of the top. Storage crates and boxes rarely land on that figure, so stacking two shallow boxes gives more control than using one deep one.<\/p>\n
A sheet of 18mm plywood or MDF is the most practical surface. Merchants will cut to size, and a 200cm by 90cm sheet seats eight comfortably. Thinner board will flex in the middle and should be avoided unless it is fully supported underneath.<\/p>\n
Round off or sand the edges lightly, since a raw board edge is sharp against forearms. A quick coat of paint or a sealer keeps the surface clean, though a cloth covers most of it anyway.<\/p>\n
Alternatives include an old door laid flat, which is heavier but very rigid, or a solid tabletop borrowed from another piece of furniture. Avoid glass unless it was made as a tabletop, since ordinary glass will not tolerate the loads involved.<\/p>\n
Folding trestles are the safest option and store flat afterwards. Two are enough for a top up to about 180cm, and three are better beyond that to stop the middle sagging.<\/p>\n
If you are using boxes or crates, choose ones with a flat top and equal height, and place them where the load sits rather than at the extreme ends. Weighting the base with books adds stability. Never build a dining surface on anything that rolls, including drawer units on castors.<\/p>\n
Pushing two smaller tables together is often overlooked and works well when the heights match. Where they differ by a centimetre or two, place a thin board across both and even out the difference with folded card under the lower one.<\/p>\n
Presentation is what separates a functional surface from an enjoyable meal. A full tablecloth that reaches close to the floor hides the structure entirely and immediately changes the character of the room. Layer a runner over it if you want more interest.<\/p>\n
Lighting does the rest. Lower the room lighting and use candles or a couple of small lamps at the table edges. A softer light draws attention to the table and away from the improvised base. Our modern table lamps UK sale<\/a> range includes compact designs that suit this kind of temporary setup and stay useful afterwards.<\/p>\n Chairs are usually the harder problem than the table. Mixing dining chairs, desk chairs and stools is entirely acceptable if the seat heights are within a few centimetres of each other. Cushions raise a low seat and make a hard one bearable for a long meal.<\/p>\n Benches are the most space efficient way to seat extra people at a temporary table, especially children. A simple bench takes three where two chairs would fit, and it stores against a wall afterwards. Our dining benches UK<\/a> options are useful for exactly this, since they earn their place long after the gathering has finished.<\/p>\n Stools work at the ends of a long table and take up almost no floor space. Bar height stools are too tall for a 75cm surface, so check the seat height before assuming they will do. Anything in our modern stools UK sale<\/a> selection listed near 45cm will sit correctly at dining height.<\/p>\n Simplify the place settings on a temporary table, because the surface is often narrower than a permanent one and clutter shows quickly. One plate, one glass and the cutlery needed for the meal is enough, with anything extra brought out as the courses change.<\/p>\n Serve family style down the centre only if the board is at least 90cm wide. On a narrower top, keep the serving dishes on a side table and pass plates, which also stops the centre of an unsupported board taking the weight of heavy pots.<\/p>\n Mismatched crockery looks intentional when it shares a single quality, whether that is colour, tone or material. Plain white plates with different glasses read as relaxed, while four different patterns read as improvised. The same principle applies to cutlery and napkins, and cloth napkins in one colour tie the whole table together for very little effort.<\/p>\n Where space is genuinely limited, a wall mounted drop leaf shelf or a folding table stored behind a door serves as a semi permanent solution. Both give a proper eating surface without holding floor space during the day.<\/p>\n A console table pulled away from the wall can also seat two or four at a push, provided the depth is at least 40cm. It is not a long term arrangement for a household of four, but it works for a small flat and looks like furniture rather than a compromise. Our modern console tables UK<\/a> range includes narrow designs that behave this way.<\/p>\n A temporary table usually goes where there is space rather than where a table belongs, so the room needs rearranging around it. Move the sofa back, clear a route from the kitchen and decide in advance where serving dishes will be set down. A sideboard, a console or even an ironing board covered with a cloth works as a serving station and keeps the table itself free.<\/p>\n Allow the same clearance you would for a permanent table, which is at least 75cm behind each chair. It is tempting to squeeze more people in when the setup is temporary, but a crowded table is remembered for the wrong reasons. If the numbers are tight, seating people along one long side and one end works better than filling every edge.<\/p>\n Think about the direction people will arrive from and leave the end nearest the door clear. That seat becomes the one used by whoever is serving, and it saves everyone else standing up during the meal.<\/p>\n If the room doubles as a living space, push the coffee table and any floor lamps well out of the walkway before guests arrive rather than during the evening. Trailing lamp cables near a busy table are the most common trip hazard in an improvised layout.<\/p>\n Test the setup before anyone sits down. Press hard on each corner and on the centre. If the top slides on the supports, add rubber matting or grip pads between the two, which is a common oversight with board on trestles.<\/p>\n Keep hot dishes on trivets, since bare board scorches easily and paint blisters. Watch for overhang, because a top that extends far past its supports will tip if someone leans on the end. Keep the overhang to no more than around 25cm at each end.<\/p>\n With children around, tape the cloth to the underside of the board at the corners. A pulled tablecloth on an improvised table is a genuine hazard rather than a theoretical one.<\/p>\n A temporary table is a good answer to a short term problem. If you find yourself rebuilding it every few weeks, a folding or extending table will save time and look considerably better. An extending design gives you the daily footprint you want with the capacity you occasionally need, which is the point most people arrive at eventually. You can compare dining options at Furniture in Fashion<\/a>, and we offer free delivery to most UK mainland postcodes with Returns available up to 30 days.<\/p>\n Around 75cm from floor to surface. Set the supports to 75cm minus the thickness of the top you are using.<\/p>\n 18mm plywood or MDF cut to size. Thinner sheets flex in the middle and feel unstable once plates and elbows are on them.<\/p>\n Only with a rigid board laid over it. Decorating tables are narrow and light, so they need extra width and weight to feel secure during a meal.<\/p>\n Place rubber matting or non slip pads between the board and the supports, and keep the overhang at each end short.<\/p>\n Allow about 60cm of edge per person. A 200cm board seats three per side plus one at each end if there is room to pull chairs out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A temporary dining table is often needed at short notice: a gathering that outgrows the usual seating, a move between homes, or a room mid decoration. The solution is simpler than it looks, but it depends on getting two things right, namely a surface at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":59931,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3334],"tags":[2397,5937,1295,6045],"class_list":["post-59929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to-guide-for-your-home","tag-entertaining","tag-furniture-diy","tag-small-space-living","tag-temporary-dining-table"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furnitureinfashion.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Seating for a Crowd<\/h3>\n
Setting the Table Itself<\/h3>\n
Temporary Tables in Small Flats<\/h3>\n
Planning the Layout of the Room<\/h3>\n
Safety Points Worth Checking<\/h3>\n
Knowing When to Stop Improvising<\/h3>\n
Frequently Asked Questions<\/h3>\n
What height should a temporary dining table be?<\/h3>\n
What is the best board for a makeshift tabletop?<\/h3>\n
Can I use a decorating table for dining?<\/h3>\n
How do I stop the top sliding off the trestles?<\/h3>\n
How many people can a temporary table seat?<\/h3>\n