Why don't you get a gate leg or drop leaf table and when your son needs play space, you fold down the sides and move the table against the wall. When you need dining space, you open up the table. Some such tables look quite nice. You can also get nice wooden folding chairs for dining seats and they can also be collapsed and moved against the wall when needed.

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I'd make it look as good as I could but I'd make my own wood, stained tall narrow table at exactly the height and width of the bar area and butt it up against that side of the island. Paint or stain the legs the same colour as the cabinetry below so it isn't as noticeable.

The joys of renting- You can't fix it but you can't live with it...

Along these lines, I was thinking maybe you could find a stand-alone bar that could be placed against the island or a narrow table such as a sofa table.

Honestly, I'd make it look as good as I could but I'd make my own wood, stained tall narrow table at exactly the height and width of the bar area and butt it up against that side of the island. Paint or stain the legs the same colour as the cabinetry below so it isn't as noticeable.

The joys of renting- You can't fix it but you can't live with it...

OP here- yes, bar stools are a pain. My DS is only 2 and we have another on the way, so the open run-around space would be nice.

I'd go with a separate dining table. I'd get fed up sitting at bar stools for every meal.

Would your DS enjoy playing on the table (Legos, board games, activity books, etc.)?

*reading

Situation: We are in a rental apartment in a building. There's a kitchen island that is about 3 feet x 4 feet with cabinets at the base and a black, granite countertop. The countertop is very annoying in that on one side of the island, it extends over the cabinet by about 4 inches - meant, I suppose, as a "breakfast bar" or whatever, but it's really not enough of an overhang to eat comfortably there. There is space for a dining room table next to it, however if we put a table in it then it will clutter the whole are and my son likes to just play in that area.

So instead of getting a dining room table, we are trying to think of creative ways to extend the countertop of the island so that we can put bar stools all around it and use it, essentially, as our dining room table. We already have 3 stools around it and eat leaning waaay forward. Any ideas for solutions? One thought I had was getting another bigger countertop to somehow fit over the current countertop in a stable way, perhaps with a thin film of cork underneath to avoid damage (granite would probably be too complicated, even something wooden with laminate or something?). It would take a special craftsman to customize the job as well, and I wouldn't know where to start. I'll add that it doesn't seem the granite is easily removable from the countertop to just put a new one, I bet the owner would not be thrilled at that idea.

Thank you for readings this!! Appreciate any ideas...