No cats at the moment, but mine were never allowed on the tables. One calico, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, took exception to that rule when I was cutting out any apparel pattern. The tissue was just fascinating to her. I always told her if she got a paw cut, she was responsible. I think the Siamese had the same issue.
Sammicat used the server in the dining room to rest from playing with my Siberian/wolf, but it was only used on holidays and I always scrubbed it first. He was never on the tables or counters.
Cats are trainable - they just pretend they aren't. I had one that would ask to go upstairs. If I said "No, the baby is sleeping", he sat down and waited.