Arranging and Re-arranging

In our small space there is not a lot of opportunity to rearrange our furniture.  Most furniture pieces have one exact spot and no where else to fit.  But with the addition of a 4th tiny person and a steady rotation of family and guests lately, we have been looking to maximize space and flow.  The other day I pushed our extending dining table up against the chalkboard wall. Normally it sits a foot or so out from the wall with Theo sitting on that side.  By pushing it against the wall, we gained at least a foot of width in our kitchen/dining area, while losing access to one side of the table.  If it is just the three of us (oops, now 4!) for dinner we don't need to pull the table out from the wall and can comfortably sit on the 3 remaining sides.  If we have guests, we normally pull out the table even more and extend the table anyway, filling up the kitchen/dining space for the night.

I've been enjoying this new set up as extra open floor space makes the whole apartment feel larger.  The other night friends were over and noticed the tiny change which led them to turn the table 90 degrees perpendicular to the chalkboard wall.  It creates a small pinch point near the oven but clears access to the kid's room and creates more space between the dining table and living room.  We'll sit with this layout for a bit and see how it works for us. All of this adjustment does have me questioning the length of the dining table.  I now wish it was shorter in its smallest form but still able to expand to seat 8 (See a previous post about choosing our dining table Here).

I know adjusting our dining room table location is a small change but I find living in a small space requires many minor adjustments which may lead to bigger changes in order to live happily and comfortably.