We’ve all learned flexibility during extended stay-at-home periods, finding new ways to give family members their own space to work, study and eat a healthy meal. Which might explain why searches for “TV tables” and “TV dinner tables” are up 110 percent on Google Trends.
Mikayla Keating, a Boise-based designer at Decorist, has a few ideas why collapsible TV trays are seeing a resurgence. “People working from home are trying to find creative ways to quickly set up a laptop work area,” she tells us. “I’ve seen people using them as mini-desks in their apartments, or next to their sofa, right there in the living room.”
Los Angeles designer Lindsay Pennington notes that the trend might even be alluring to Gen-Z: “Kids at home are used to changing classrooms frequently, and periodically need a new environment to stay stimulated and motivated.” And while TV trays are being tasked with supporting working, studying and crafting, let’s not forget these little tables’ perfect design that gave them their name: eating dinner in front of the TV. “People can't go out to eat or to the movies, and so they’re trying out different locations in their home so mealtime isn't so monotonous,” Pennington says. Here, shop seven of our favorite TV tables.