Do you use tablecloths or napkins?

Morning Glory said:
I didn't know such things existed, but I suppose it makes sense.


Aw - you must be very lonely to resort to this. Sorry, I couldn't resist...:shy:


I can't imagine doing that. I did use to have cats but they were trained not to go on surfaces. I couldn't ever get used to the idea of those paws (which had been in a litter tray or in the dirt outside) tramping over my kitchen counter. But maybe you mean they pounce on the 'overhang' of the tablecloth and pull it off?

In fact I do use placemats (but that is all). The reason is that I have a glass dining table and without placemats the plates sort of clatter unpleasantly. It would set my teeth on edge!
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Not that lonely! Although during the height of COVID, yes...

Yes, it is easy to train cats not to go on tables.... when one is around to observe them! Easier to wipe down a bare table than clean the tablecloth every day.

Yes, they could pull it off, but with a heavy enough centerpiece, they wouldn't get that far.

I would use placemats (or something!) with a glass dining table, too.
 
Ok, here’s more or less how the table is set most days:

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I usually just fold the napkin into a square, but since I was talking a picture, I dressed it up a little.

And yes, we ate breakfast this morning off of tray tables in the living room. :laugh:
 
OK I am just going to be honest here: we're both messy types.

The rule in our home is, no dirt, no trash, no unclean bathroom and kitchen. But otherwise, we're not exactly very organised. So decking the table as Tastyreuben does is my dream, but not my reality. One of the reasons I like eating out.
Sure, our table is clean and our utensils are clean. But that's about all anyone can ask for here. Due my disabilities, and my partner's ADD, and two autistic young adults who also have ADHD our house is never going to look as nice as TastyReuben 's lovely place.

So while I'd love table cloths, linens, and all the fancy stuff it's just not going to happen unless I can afford a butler. Which I do aspire to :laugh:
 
Windigo - first, thank you for the wonderful compliment! Our house is actually fairly disorganized as well. I find my small victories where I can. :laugh:

If I didn’t insist on having the table set, it would be piled high with all kinds of stuff - medications and medical devices, shopping bags, junk mail, car keys, overspill of groceries, etc. Having it set all the time keeps that stuff shifted elsewhere.

Oh how I wish I had a good picture of our family table growing up, I laugh now, but it was frustrating.

Mom, being the natural disorganized pack rat she was (and is), kept that table piled high with everything but food, and when we sat down to eat, we all had just enough room around the edge for our plates, and that was it. Giant table, and crowded out by newspapers, meds, library books, clothes patterns, etc.
 
TastyReuben said:
Ok, here’s more or less how the table is set most days:

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I usually just fold the napkin into a square, but since I was talking a picture, I dressed it up a little.

And yes, we ate breakfast this morning off of tray tables in the living room. :laugh:
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You set the table up beautifully and then eat off trays? I really don't understand this at all. Nothing would induce me to eat off a tray table unless I end up in an care home and have no choice. But as they say 'each to her/his own' (I hate that phrase BTW). I don't really mean to sound so critical. OK - well I probably do :laugh:.

You know me well TastyReuben and I know you will forgive my rant.
 
Morning Glory said:
You set the table up beautifully and then eat off trays? I really don't understand this at all.
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How else can I watch Murder Maps on the TV while having my eggs? :laugh:

That table will stay that way until probably July, when I change out the tablecloth for a more summery color/pattern.
 
TastyReuben said:
How else can I watch Murder Maps on the TV while having my eggs? :laugh:
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Easy! There is a TV set up in the same room as the dining table so I can eat and watch. I usually watch TV when eating (although sometimes I read a novel whilst eating). Either way, its at a table (with no tablecloth). I do have a second TV in the other (sitting) room with sofas.
 
TastyReuben said:
Windigo - first, thank you for the wonderful compliment! Our house is actually fairly disorganized as well. I find my small victories where I can. :laugh:

If I didn’t insist on having the table set, it would be piled high with all kinds of stuff - medications and medical devices, shopping bags, junk mail, car keys, overspill of groceries, etc. Having it set all the time keeps that stuff shifted elsewhere.

Oh how I wish I had a good picture of our family table growing up, I laugh now, but it was frustrating.

Mom, being the natural disorganized pack rat she was (and is), kept that table piled high with everything but food, and when we sat down to eat, we all had just enough room around the edge for our plates, and that was it. Giant table, and crowded out by newspapers, meds, library books, clothes patterns, etc.
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My dinner table is always free of clutter, and my mother was the opposite of yours. My mom has some kind of cleaning compulsion, which made me allergic to doing things her way. My mom's house always looks like a hotel. Very relaxing to visit in, but not so much to keep up.
I believe houses are for living in, not for display. Though at the same time I am jealous of more organised people :laugh:
 
Windigo said:
I believe houses are for living in, not for display. Though at the same time I am jealous of more organised people :laugh:
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MrsT is more like you, I’m more like your mom (slightly). I like everything put away and in its place, she likes everything piled around her and at hand.

I don’t know if you’re familiar with The Odd Couple (play, movie, classic TV show, remade TV show, re-remade TV show…), but I’ll occasionally have to prod my wife into picking her stuff up with a, “C’mon Oscar, it’s getting a little messy over there.” :laugh:
 
Morning Glory said:
You set the table up beautifully and then eat off trays? I really don't understand this at all. Nothing would induce me to eat off a tray table unless I end up in an care home and have no choice. But as they say 'each to her/his own' (I hate that phrase BTW). I don't really mean to sound so critical. OK - well I probably do :laugh:.

You know me well TastyReuben and I know you will forgive my rant.
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I really don't enjoy eating off of trays - in the living area watching tv - for 1) the TV is so seldom on it won't happen there and 2) they are much more lower and more wobbly than food set in front of me at a table. Trays are annoying.

I do have my laptop at my dining table, and have used this while eating.
 
We have started eating in front of the television over the last while..we are together all day at work so by the time we get home all formalities cease and we just want to zone out for a while..we do sit together in the living room when we eat in there..our dining room table is usually clean and ready but unless we are eating something that requires a lot of knife work or multiple dishes, we just take our plates in the living room..One problem that can arise is we use the side kitchen door and it opens into the dining room so sometimes the table is used for whatever we bring home like, groceries, gloves, keys, etc...so part of the getting home ritual is spending a few minutes and putting everything in it's place..
 
TastyReuben said:
But I can’t see your TV from here! :laugh:
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Move the TV. G has his big screen in the den. I have a 27" flat screen in my kitchen - on a swivel. We usually eat in the den on table trays. If it is football season and G insist on watching a football game instead of a movie I will either eat at the kitchen table or read in the den.
I just read my post. What is wrong with this picture? Maybe turn off the TV, put the book aside and have a conversation over dinner.
 
ElizabethB said:
We usually eat in the den on table trays.
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They are already eating on tray tables in front of the TVs. My point was to get them using the dining table. Tray tables are for old people's homes in my world. But I know in the US that a lot of people use them. Not nearly so much in the UK.
 
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