Dining Tables

Guide To Choosing the Perfect Dining Table

Dining tables come in all shapes and sizes. For a new homeowner trying to furnish your home, it can get overwhelming to pick the perfect dining table depending on your needs and personal preferences.

Wondering how to decide? Our team of furniture experts over at Lulu Furniture has put together a simple 5 step guide to guide you along. From practical considerations like your hosting needs to the durability of materials, we have got you covered!

Measure How Large Your Dining Area Is for the Table

One of the first and most important considerations is the size of your dining space.  After all, the nicest-looking dining table would not work if it were too bulky to fit into your dining area.

That is why before you even start on your search for your dining table, it is important to make sure you get the measurements right first.

Here’s how you should do it:

1. Tape up or measure how much space in the dining area you would like to set aside for the dining table and chairs.
2. Walk around the space to make sure you have allowed for enough walk-around space around it and sufficient table-to-wall clearance (~ 1 – 1.2 m) so no one will end up stuck in their seats – if required, narrow down the measurements.
3. Now you have your target dining table dimensions.
4. Based on that, you can now also figure out roughly how many chairs you can fit around the table.

Read our guide in our dining chairs collection.

Tip: Always look for dining tables that are smaller than your target dining table dimensions to ensure that you have more space to navigate around the table than less.

Decide On Your Preferred Dining Table Shape

While the first consideration is a practical one, the next is a mixture of both practical reasons and personal preferences.

Here are some of the most common dining table shapes and their corresponding practical considerations:

Rectangle dining tables tend to give off a more formal vibe (think formal banquets in the olden days where the hosts tend to sit at either end of the tables) and are the ideal shape to fit a lengthier and narrow dining space.

Square dining tables compared to their rectangle counterparts are suited for a more intimate setting given the smaller footprint of the table. Also, they are much more space-saving compared to most table types, so definitely a boon if you have a limited dining area.

Don’t like angular-shaped tables? Then round or oval dining tables might be alternative styles you can consider. One of the biggest advantages of a circular table is the lack of edges that allows you to fit more people around the table.

If none of the practical reasons apply to you, then simply choose what you like best aesthetically or what fits best with your home interior design.

Choice of Dining Table Supports

While most homeowners tend to choose their preferred table based on just the tabletop, the type of table support below the tabletop is also an important consideration you don’t want to forget.

Ever sat at a dining table and find your legs are being obstructed uncomfortably by the table legs? That’s the reason why the choice of table supports is important!

Here are some of the common types of table supports to consider:

• Pedestal base design – a single column usually in the middle of the tabletop (usually for smaller tables) See our GRANDI Sintered Stone Dining Table Set for an example.
• Trestle base design – legs at the ends of the tables and connective via a stretcher across the length of the table for enhanced support
• Cross leg base design – crossed shaped designs at the ends of the table (more common with more informal table styles)
• Legs-only base design – the most standard one leg at each edge of the tabletop for support (usually for angular shaped tabletops) See our EAMES Large Dining Table Set for an example.

If you plan on hosting many guests for dinner parties, then try to consider table support types like pedestal or legs-only base designs that allow maximum legroom for a comfortable sitting arrangement.

Choose the Right Dining Table Materials

Dining tables come in many different types of materials. Wondering how to pick one that not only fits your home interior style but is also practical and durable for long-term use?

Here’s a simple list of some of the common materials you may see in your search and their pros and cons:

Solid wood – Love the natural look of wooden furnishings? Solid wood is a natural and durable surface (opt for hardwoods like oak or birch versus pine), great for a tabletop. The downsides? It tends to be more expensive, usually much heavier, and hence difficult to shift around and tend to show scratches easily.

MDF or Engineered Wood – An affordable alternative to solid wood. Created by combining hardwood and softwood via intense heat and pressure treatments, MDF is a dense and strong material, popularly used in furniture building these days thanks to its durable and inexpensive nature.

Check out our Mutu Dining Table Set which looks just as good as any solid wood table at a fraction of the cost.

Natural Stone – Marble, quartz, and even cement are interesting materials for tabletops for owners looking for a unique, luxurious, and even raw finish in their dining space. However, apart from their aesthetics, these are incredibly difficult materials to maintain over time.

Sintered Stone – Love the stone look but not the high maintenance and price tag? Well, sintered stone is a great alternative. With durable properties like being water and stain-proof, difficult to chip or damage, easy to clean, non-porous amongst many others, sintered stone is easily a much better option than its natural counterparts.

Check out our GRANDI Sintered Stone Round Dining Table Set or MOLLY Extendable Sintered Stone Dining Table to see how realistic it looks!

Glass – A modern material that gives off a trendy vibe and makes your space feels larger than it is. However, glass is susceptible to chipping, scratching, and fingerprint, so make sure you are ready for the high maintenance it needs.

Metals – If you looking to match your interior design style with an industrial-looking table, then metal tabletops are perfect for the look. However, it is a rarely used material because of the disadvantages which include rusting (due to the high exposure to water), buffing required to maintain its sheen amongst many others.

Plastics – Comes in all shapes and sizes due to the customizable nature of the material and an inexpensive option. While it is very durable, it may not always fit in with the interior style of the rest of the house.

Inspect & Check for Dining Table Construction

Found something to your liking? Before you pull the trigger to get it, make sure you do your final checks!

Here are some things to look out for:

• The base and the tabletop need to fit together well
• Ensure connection points do not have gaps
• The table is not wobbly when it is being moved
• The lesser the attachments the better

Worried about getting a wonky table because you can’t do your final checks in person? At Lulu Furniture, we not only have a free delivery and assembly service with our dining tables, but they also come with a 6-month local warranty so that you have a peace of mind!

Ready to shop for a dining table? Head over to Lulu Furniture and check out our dining table collection today!