Dining

Choosing dining furniture

A dining room is a table, the chairs around it and the storage against the wall, and the three have to work together: the table sets the size, the chairs set the comfort, and the buffet takes everything that would otherwise sit on the table. Whether you are after a complete dining set or replacing one piece, this page covers how the parts fit, and each heading links to the full range.

Dining tables and chairs: start with the table

The table decides everything else. Measure the room, allow 90 cm from the table edge to the wall or the next piece of furniture so chairs can be pulled out and people can walk behind them, and that gives you the biggest table the room will take. Then count seats: allow about 60 cm of table edge per person, so a 180 cm rectangular table seats six and a 240 cm table seats eight; a 120 cm round table seats four and a 150 cm round seats six. Our dining tables range covers rectangular, round, oval and extension dining tables that grow when the family does, in solid timber, marble, stone and concrete-look tops.

Dining chairs and bench seats

Chairs should sit 28 to 32 cm below the table top, so a 75 cm table wants a seat height of 45 to 47 cm; check the arms of a carver chair slide under the table. Mixing is fine: upholstered chairs at the ends and timber chairs down the sides, or a bench seat along one side that tucks away and seats children three at a time. Our dining chairs come in timber, fabric, velvet and leather; in a family dining room choose leather or a stain-resistant fabric, and in a formal one the velvet.

Dining sets and suites

A dining set or dining suite, the table with its matching chairs, is the simplest way to furnish the room so the proportions and timbers already agree. Most tables here have chairs designed alongside them, so you can buy the set as pictured or swap the chairs for a different fabric. If you prefer to build your own, repeat one element, the timber of the table legs in the chair frames or the colour of the table top in the upholstery, and the room will read as a set.

Buffets, sideboards and display

A buffet or sideboard against the long wall stores the dinner sets, platters and linen and gives you a serving surface at the height of a kitchen bench; keep it shorter than the table and 90 cm clear of it. A display unit or glazed dresser shows the glassware a buffet hides. Bar stools along the kitchen bench finish an open-plan dining and kitchen space; match their legs to the dining chairs so the two areas belong together.

Finishing the dining room

A rug under the table, 60 to 70 cm bigger than the table on every side, softens the floor and the sound; a mirror or artwork above the buffet gives the wall a focus; a pendant centred over the table at about 75 cm above the top lights the food and not the eyes.

See it in a Perth showroom

The Furniture Gallery is WA owned and family run, with showrooms across Perth and regional WA. Sit at the tables, try the chairs for an hour's comfort, and plan a complete dining room with an interior stylist. When you have chosen, add the pieces to your cart and enter your postcode for a delivery price; our white-glove delivery team will unpack, assemble and position everything and take the packaging away.