I also use the dining room. My designated sewing room is actually my fabric storage facility. Unfortunately, i'm a very messy worker & spread out & use the entire dining room. If we have someone for dinner, we all eat in the kitchen. We also have a table in the family room for games etc., and can also eat there. Once a year we have a big party and I need to pack up all my sewing stuff. The downside is it takes a couple weeks. The up side is I go thru & reorganize a lot of my stuff.
I think if I were going to sew in the dining room on a temporary basis, I would treat it like I was going on a retreat. I would prepare the project, organizing & doing the majority of the cutting in the basement. I would use some of the items designed for travel, such as one of those small cutting mat/ironing surfaces, use a small iron & keeping the large ironing board in the basement. If you are serious about just doing this on a temporary basis, where you are putting things away & taking them back out, I would concentrate on using the bare minimum of tools and equipment. If you have a travel quilting tote, you can just pack that up when you need to use the dining room. You can also use a regular suitcase. This can be put temporarily in a bedroom closet, along with your sewing machine. Personally, I'd just make your guests eat in the kitchen...