Just curious - Dinette Usage

[Chuck_S]

My wife's laptop is on the dinette table, up and running long before we're completely set up. I can't stop her from working!

-- Chuck

[Halfmast]

While not practical for what you need, I met full-timers in a ~40' DRV. They had removed their dining table and chairs and put in a small freezer.

[ETF]

We travel with just the two of us and two dogs. My wife hates booths and dinettes. She longs for the table and chairs we had in the big fiver all those years ago. Me? I don't care all that much one way or the other. I'll use the dinette to eat or, more often, I'll be in my chair with a folding TV table. A lot of the time we travel with my S-I-L and she has an outside kitchen in her 5th wheel so we often eat outside if the weather is good. We also like to explore new restaurants wherever we are camping. So, the dinette is there but it really doesn't get a whole lot of use.

The most common replacement that I've seen by people who remove the dinette completely is a sofa or recliners to increase comfortable seating capacity.

[Freetyme]

Originally Posted by CurtPutnam

We have plenty of room for a dinette in our TT but use it more as a catchall than for dining. In a smaller unit, they take up a lot of space that, for us, could be put to much better use. My questions probably apply to couples camping without kids.

My questions are: Do you use the dinette for eating by preference or just because it is there. If you do not care about the dinette, for what would you use the space?

As I said, I'm just curious and thought it might make for some interesting discussion.

2nd TT, neither had or has a dinette. Prefere seating comfort over a dinette. True most can transform to a bed, but not something we need. First had a jack knife sofa and collapsible table, worked but sofa was totally uncomfortable. Present has theater seats with snack trays that can drop into the arms, fine for 2. Purchased a suit case style 2x4 table for more food room. We'll use that for larger meals, Note: It's just the 2 of us.

[pgandw]

In our little A-frame, the dinette gives us a place to read or chat when it's raining. And gives us a place for a third person to sleep. Would not want an A-frame without a usable dinette.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

[judyoshi]

I have the U-shaped dinette. Majority of the time it is down with large throw pillows and blankets. I use the area underneath for storage. Makes a comfortable deep sofa for reading (or napping). Have a very small folding table next to it. Works well for me.

[camper70]

Our newest trailer has a table and four chairs. I find the chairs more comfortable than dinette seats and easier to get out of. The DW wishes we still had the dinette and we are missing the storage under the dinette seats but we will adjust. It is just the two of us and we have a trifold sofa and two recliners. We do use the table for eating most of the time.

[smittyboy]

Yes, ours is a table that in screwed down to the floor. Yes, we use it for eating breakfast, mostly, and when it is too wet to eat outside. I planned to put tie-downs on it, and unscrew it from the floor. So, we can move it out to the center of the room, for game playing and for when we have other people over for a meal.

[dryflycaster]

We have a new Charcoal Lab Puppy (4 months), a replacement for our 8 year old Yellow Lab we lost to cancer last fall, that accompanies us on all trips. Currently, at night, the puppy resides in a medium size crate. Hence we remove the dinette (top and posts) place a couple short pieces of 2x4's on the floor as levelers
and to get the crate base above the post wells.

The crate fits nicely in the dinette space. We then put a heavy towel or moving blanket (Harbor Freight) on top of the crate , flip the table top upside down, putting it on the crate and then a table cloth on the inverted table top of it. This arrangement doesn't leave any room for your legs/feet and necessitates that you sit sideways to eat. Since we eat on the outside picnic table 95% of the time this inconvenience is no big deal. With the table top on top of the crate it still serves as a good catch-all for; the tissue box, daily meds, reading material, dog leashes, spare beer and anything the lab can reach and try to chew up or eat.

Of course once we are ready to move, the crate is removed and the table is placed in it's normal solid position for travel purposes.

There are only the two of us plus our Lab and a Yorkie and so far this arrangement, for longer stays, has worked out very good. For our requirements, dinettes, like jack-knife sofas (which are just to damn difficult to operate and have been replaced by two recliner/sliders, are at best a waste of space.

I like seakayaker's previously mentioned idea of lowering the table top to the bed position and the crate on top of that. Perhaps we will try that and utilize a piece of plywood on top of the crate for a catch-all surface. This would also eliminate the bumps in the tablecloth caused by the post wells on the underside of the table top.

[Oaklevel]

Since 1985 we have used our dinette to eat at. We now have a camper with a table and chairs....... either is fine with us.

As far as camping alone we can count on one hand how many times that we have been able to do that since 1985........ Kids have usually been along and grand kids too, even on occasion Mom's or MIL (at 87) . It now seems strange if someone is not along.

So a dinette or a table is a must for us. We were going to try it without but it did not work for us.

[popshumphrey]

It is obvious that what works for one may not work for another. Fortunately, there are no rules!

For us, just two of us with an occasional grand kid, we took ours out and replaced it with two recliners. We have a small 24 foot sun seeker, so the recliners are better 90 percent of the time. We have two tv trays when we don't eat outside.

the kids sleep in the loft above the driver compartment. The dog sleeps with us in the bed. Therefore, it works for us!

[tjwdj]

Now that it's just me and Yaki, my pup, my dinette table and 4 chairs is more of an office. My laptop, in-use files, in-coming mail, etc. are maintained at the table. There is still room for me to eat but, I eat more in the living area now on a large portable table/TV tray. I'm in a 38' 5-er so I have lots of space. When we purchased the unit we thought more of...Entertain 6, feed 4 and sleep 2. Grandkids use a tent!