We’ve previously lamented how the first home feature that seems to bite the dust when space is scant is a dining area. When you factor in the necessity of a bed (at least one) and a couch, well, if you’re seriously short on square footage that doesn’t leave you with a whole lot to play with.

And while our previous angle was to inject the option of possessing a dining space by way of a table of adjustable height, today I shall attempt to prove only that it can be done. You can have your miniature home and eat your cake at a table, too.

Without further ado, then, here are an assemblage of inspiring examples of small space dining areas (drumroll, etc.).

Exhibit A: a small table and pair of chairs get plunked into a corner and bam! Instant dining space.

Strap in–the rest of this post is even more rocket-science-y than that.

Here’s how this same concept looks when the spot said table and chair get plunked in is kitchen-adjacent.

Bistro-style. You can even go so far as to call that a purposeful choice, not a small space limitation is what.

But you’ll notice in almost all of these examples that the table, itself, does not need to be large at all. In fact, it can flirt with being defined as a pedestal and still: a surface which you can pull a chair up to, and which can accomodate a plate and a glass x2 is a table you can work with.

Notice how the space gets notably defined with the addition of a statement light fixture. That baby is all, “Oh, I’m sorry; this is an area.”

Of course, once you have a table and chairs in your possession, you can always position them in your space according to your daily needs. If you happen, one night, to be hosting your downstairs neighbors for supper, yank that situation sofa-side and boom–dinner party.

And for a more permanent iteration of this concept, there’s the small space exceedingly-friendly technique of using a corner bench and table. Add chairs on the other side of the bench for even more seating.

Finally, two examples of small space design brilliance…

The first, a cafe corner that takes up so little space it almost adds square footage (what?):

And the second, a seriously ingenious dining space magic trick:

Now I want a table, so I raise this slab and prop it up with that other one and when I’m done, the table disappears. (Although I should probably not, in good conscience, sign off on that situation lurking behind the cover of cabinet door.)

I could go on. In fact! I wish I could go on! Only I’m sleeping while I’m typing this and thus I think it best to sign off here, before I do something horrible like make a giant fool of myself.

Oh wait, wait. Much, much too late.

(Wink face.) (X’s and O’s)

Image credits: Home of Alex Yeske, photography by Jaymee Harney via Design Sponge; Styling by Jessica Clayton, photography by Mikael Axelsson via My Scandinavian Home; via Alvhem; Jennifer Wagner Schmidt via Apartment Therapy; Domino; Design Development NYC via Sketch42; Offbeat and Inspired; Home of Angela Ellsworth and Tania Katan via Apartment Therapy