Dining Room Designs

Each seated person needs 600 to 700mm of table edge and about 400mm of depth. That gives real numbers: a four-seater at 1,200 by 800mm, a six-seater at 1,600 to 1,800 by 900mm, an eight-seater at 2,200 by 1,000mm. A round table seats efficiently and is far better for conversation, but above about 1,400mm diameter the centre becomes unreachable.

Table height is 750mm and chair seat height 450mm almost universally, which gives the 300mm of thigh clearance that makes sitting comfortable. Check the apron depth on any table with a deep rail – it is what stops a chair pushing in, and it is rarely mentioned in a product listing.

Allow 900mm from the table edge to the nearest wall or furniture for a chair to pull out and a person to sit. Where someone has to walk behind a seated diner, that becomes 1,100mm. Below 750mm, the chair cannot be pulled out far enough to sit down without turning sideways.

• 600 to 700mm of table edge per person, 400mm depth each
• 900mm from table edge to wall as the working minimum
• 1,100mm where circulation passes behind seated diners
• 750mm table height against 450mm seat height
• 1,400mm maximum diameter on a round table before the centre is unreachable

This is the number that decides whether a dining area works, and it is the one most often sacrificed to fit a larger table. A six-seater with proper clearance is a better room than an eight-seater without it, every single time.

When the dining table sits in a shared volume, it needs something to make it read as a place rather than as furniture parked in a walkway. The three tools are a rug sized to hold the table and the pulled-out chairs, a pendant hung over it, and a change in the ceiling above.

Keep it out of the primary traffic line between the front door and the kitchen. If that is unavoidable, orient the table along the route rather than across it, so people pass down the length rather than squeezing between a chair and a wall.

A pendant hangs 750 to 900mm above the table top – measured to the bottom of the fitting, not the ceiling rose. Higher than 900mm and it stops defining the table; lower and people knock their heads standing up. Over a long table, two or three smaller pendants read better than one large fitting.

Use a warm 2700K source and put it on a dimmer, because the same table is a homework desk at seven and a dinner table at nine. Avoid a downlight directly over each seat, which lights the tops of heads and puts faces in shadow.

A crockery unit or sideboard within reach of the table is the difference between a set table and a series of trips to the kitchen. 450mm depth is enough for most crockery and keeps the unit from crowding the room; a run of 1,800mm covers a family's everyday and occasional sets.

For the table top itself, solid timber with a matte PU is repairable and forgiving. Marble is beautiful and stains from turmeric, oil and lemon unless properly sealed and wiped promptly. Sintered stone and toughened glass are the practical choices in a household with young children, because neither is affected by anything spilled on it.

Wipe spills as they happen rather than at the end of the meal, particularly turmeric and oil on any porous stone. On sealed marble, a spill left overnight is the difference between a wipe and a permanent shadow. Re-seal natural stone every 12 to 18 months, which is a 20-minute job with a proprietary sealer.

Solid timber tops benefit from coasters under anything hot and from a light re-oiling or re-polishing every two or three years, depending on use. Check and tighten the chair joints annually – dining chairs take more racking stress than any other furniture in the house, and a loose joint left alone becomes a broken one.