The dining table is where a home does much of its living. It hosts family meals, Sunday lunches, homework, jigsaw puzzles and late-night conversations with friends. For many households it doubles as a desk. Because it works so hard, it is worth choosing with care rather than simply picking the one that looks best in a photograph.
The right table depends on three things: the space you have, the number of people you need to seat, and how the table will be used day to day.
Start with clearance. You need around 90 centimetres between the edge of the table and the nearest wall or piece of furniture to pull chairs out and sit down comfortably. Where people will walk behind seated diners, allow closer to a metre or more.
For seating, allow about 60 centimetres of table edge per person, and a little more if your chairs have arms. A table around 75 centimetres high suits most standard dining chairs, leaving roughly 30 centimetres between seat and tabletop.
A useful trick is to cut a sheet of cardboard or use masking tape to mark the proposed tabletop on the floor, then place chairs around it. It makes the real footprint obvious in a way that measurements alone rarely do.
Rectangular tables are the most common choice and suit long, narrow rooms well. They seat larger numbers efficiently and are easy to push against a wall when space is tight.
Round tables are wonderfully sociable, as everyone can see and talk to everyone else, and there are no corners to bump into. They work especially well in square rooms, kitchen corners and smaller spaces. A pedestal base allows more flexibility with seating, as there are no legs in the way.
Oval tables offer a middle path, combining the capacity of a rectangle with the softer flow of a round table. Square tables are intimate for four but can feel awkward when stretched to seat more.
If you entertain occasionally but eat as a small household most of the time, an extending table is often the best answer. Look for mechanisms that are easy for one person to operate, and check where the extra leaf is stored when not in use.
Butterfly-leaf designs fold the extension away inside the table itself, which saves hunting for a stored leaf at Christmas. Drop-leaf and gateleg tables are excellent for small flats, folding down to a narrow console when not needed.
Think too about how the table will be lit, since a table used for work and dining alike needs light at the right height. Our guide to choosing lamps and pendants covers pendant heights over dining tables and how to scale a light fitting to the table below it.
Solid wood tables are durable and can be sanded and refinished if damaged, making them a genuine long-term investment. Oak, walnut and ash are popular for their grain and strength. Veneered tables can look just as good and are often more stable, but deep scratches are harder to repair, so ask the retailer exactly how a table is made before you buy.
Glass tops make small rooms feel lighter but show every fingerprint. Marble and stone look striking but are heavy, can stain and usually need sealing. Painted and laminate finishes are practical for busy family kitchens.
In an open-plan kitchen-diner, the same practical thinking should extend to the seating around the table, since the sofa nearby will face the same crumbs, spills and daily traffic. Our comparison of leather vs fabric sofas weighs up which copes better with busy family life.
Whatever you choose, match the finish to the way you live. A table that shows every mark may look perfect in a showroom, but a forgiving, well-worn surface often makes for a far happier home