Blog Post Six

What shape dining table should you have?

Many dining spaces won’t have enough room to have much choice when it comes to the size and shape of a dining table, but if there is any room for maneuver its worth thinking about.

A rectangular table for six or eight people will mean several conversations going on at once. A round table will keep the conversation together more and allow everyone to reach the potatoes! An oval table achieves the best of both worlds.

The shape of the table will depend on the shape of the room. If the room is rectangular and you have more than 2 people to feed, then a rectangular or oval table would work best. If the space is more of a square, you can go for a square or round table. It is usually always better to go oval or rectangular for open plan living areas.

When you work out what shape, you need to think about the size. A table, of any shape, needs at least 1m between it and the walls or the next piece of furniture to allow the chairs to pull out and for people to be able to walk around it comfortably. If there are four people, a round table needs to be about 1m in diameter - any less is still doable but it will be tight. If you can’t fit the size table you want to accommodate all the people who may need to eat around it, consider an extendable table.

Now you need to consider the colour and the legs. Where will the legs be in relation to where the chairs will go? Think about how it might look with the sum of legs. Be careful not to have a table that limits the use of the chairs you choose i.e. the height of the table or the space between the legs. Remember that thicker legs will make the space look smaller and the table look bigger. In terms of colour, if you are wanting a timber table and can’t match the tone of the wood with the flooring or other timber accents around the space, opt for a painted timber table. If selecting an alternative to timber, make sure there are other elements around the space that don’t make the table look out of place.