Dining Tables

Choosing a dining table that fits your room and your family

Start with the room, not the table. Measure the floor space and allow about 90 cm between the edge of the table and the nearest wall, sideboard or kitchen bench, so chairs can slide out and people can walk behind someone who is seated. In an open-plan living and dining area, mark the table's footprint on the floor with masking tape and live with it for a day; it is the quickest way to find out whether a 2400 table really fits or whether a 2000 would leave the room feeling calmer.

Then count the seats you need most weeks, not the seats you need at Christmas. Allow roughly 60 cm of table edge per person for everyday comfort. A 1500 table seats six, an 1800 to 2000 table seats six to eight, and a 2200 to 2500 table seats eight to ten. If the big occasions matter, an extension dining table keeps the everyday footprint small and opens up when guests arrive.

Which shape works best

• Round tables suit square rooms, apartments and open-plan corners. Everyone faces each other, there are no corners to walk into, and a pedestal base makes it easy to squeeze in an extra chair. Browse our round dining tables.
• Rectangular tables make the most of a long room and pair naturally with a bench seat along one side. See the rectangular dining tables.
• Oval tables give you rectangular seating with the softer lines of a round, and they are the easiest shape to move around in a tight space. See our oval dining tables.
• Extension tables stay compact day to day and extend for dinner parties. Look for a mechanism that one person can operate, and check the extended length fits the room.

Legs or pedestal

The base decides how many chairs you can actually fit. A pedestal or central column base leaves the corners free, so you can seat someone at each end of a rectangular table or add an extra chair to a round one. A four-leg base is steadier for very long tables and lets a bench slide fully underneath, but the legs set the limit on how many chairs fit between them. If you plan to use carver chairs with arms, check that the arms clear the underside of the table top so the chairs tuck in.

Timber, marble or stone

Timber dining tables are the heart of our range. Solid Marri is a West Australian hardwood with a distinctive grain and natural gum veins, so every top is one of a kind; oak, elm, ash and teak run from pale honey tones through to deep sable and black finishes. Timber is warm to the touch, forgiving with everyday use, and the easiest surface to refresh over the years. Marble and stone dining tables bring a cool, sculptural look and real weight to a room. They suit a formal dining space or a modern open-plan kitchen, and simply need spills wiped promptly and a coaster under anything hot. Cement-finish tables, with a decorative render over a solid timber frame, give you the look of concrete without the weight, and sit comfortably with both timber and upholstered chairs.

Seating that matches

A standard dining table is about 75 cm high, so look for dining chairs with a seat height around 45 cm. Fabric and boucle chairs soften a timber table; leather and black timber chairs sharpen a stone one. A bench on one side seats more people in the same length and keeps the room feeling open. Many of our tables and chairs are designed as a family, with the same timber finishes repeating across both, and our stylists can put a combination together for you in store.

Finishing the dining room

Two details make a dining table look settled in a room. A rug under the table should extend far enough that the back legs of the chairs stay on it when someone sits back: around 60 to 70 cm beyond the table edge on every side. A pendant light or chandelier centred over the table, with its lowest point about 75 to 90 cm above the top, gives the table its own pool of light. A buffet or sideboard nearby holds the serving pieces and keeps the table clear.

Caring for your table

Wipe timber with a damp cloth and dry it, use placemats and coasters, and keep the table out of direct sun and away from heaters and air-conditioning vents, which dry the timber. Grain variation and gum veins are natural characteristics of solid timber, not faults. Wipe marble and stone promptly after spills, especially wine, citrus and oil, and use a coaster under hot dishes. Felt pads under chair legs protect both the floor and the table base.

See them in a Perth showroom

The Furniture Gallery is WA owned and family run, with showrooms across Perth and regional WA. Sit at the table, compare finishes in natural light, and talk sizes with an interior stylist. When you have chosen, add the table to your cart and enter your postcode for a delivery price; our white-glove delivery team will unpack it, assemble it and take the packaging away.