A dining table is not the least important thing in your home. When you get round to purchasing one, it should take some consideration apart from fitting into your budget. Some of the momentous factors are those of space, construction, style, and some smaller ones.
Stay with simpler designs
To start with, avoid trends: your table is supposed to serve you for years to come (5 years at least). Having bought a whimsical affair with funny things stuck on, you can take a good look at it one day and find it abhorrent. Simpler designs won’t let you down so easily.
Judge the available space
Your dining table mustn’t be hemmed in, it should have three feet of empty space all around at the very least. So before buying the table get the exact size by measuring the space allocated for it and subtracting the empty spaces around.
Now consider the space necessary for your family’s comfort – each member will be needing about 25 inches of table space, and more if the chairs are on the large side and have arms.
Use technology
You will like to picture to yourself how the room will look with the new table in – which you can do with the virtual reality software. It is always better to get a good „look-see“ if you like the overall effect beforehand.
Extension Tables
As you are considering the purchase, bear in mind that your family will be growing and at times you will want to entertain guests. If you are concerned about it, why not invest in an extension table with a self-storing leaf? Of course if you decide on that, you will have to include the leaf in your measurements for an ideal fit.
Choose the right shape
When choosing the shape it is customary to go by the shape of the dining room (or maybe the kitchen). If you don’t have that much space or don’t plan on a large family, you can go for a round table or an oval one which occupy less room.
Also, sitting at circular tables all the eaters look equal – that makes the atmosphere more reposeful, conducive to the feeling of comradeship and a flow of amiable talk; for friendly get-togethers, it seems to be a perfect solution.
Another suggestion for a less spacious kitchen is a square table. The disadvantage in this case is you can’t very well tuck four chairs under without them hitting one another. But if you live with just a partner or share the flat with one mate it is an ideal table shape.
With a rectangular dinner table make sure you mind its width. If you like to have your friends in, you have to reckon for extra table space so that dishes can be served with sufficient comfort. Yet in small households a large rectangular table could look out of place and take space which could be used for better purposes.
Consider the construction
A significant point to put to test when you face your table is the joinery, that is, the place where the tabletop meets the base. The joinery must be solid for the table to remain durable for long years.
Take a look under the tabletop to check the joinery. The best way is to have wood-to-wood joinery without any attachments that could make the joint weaker; simpler designs are preferable.
If you are going for a cheaper affair, glue and staples will tell you that the joinery is unreliable. Try the pieces for separating, they shouldn’t be separated easily.
Lean on the top heavily to see if it wobbles – if it does, that’s not the quality you want.
Check the legs
The next item coming up for consideration is table legs. The supporting system and the legs in particular determine in a big way how many people can be seated at the table.
Coming to check your prospective new dinner table, sit down at it, see if you can cross legs with comfort. Imagine a taller person sitting there – will the table be comfortable for them too?
Lastly, think about tucking chairs under – how will they fit? Is the support intricate and complicated, allowing poorer access, or you have only thin legs?
Pedestal style tables allow more chairs underneath, but they can be less stable than tables on four legs.
Trestle tables offer much space along the sides, but the butt ends will provide problems for sitting and fitting chairs. Nobody can be comfortable sitting with their chair pushing into a table leg.
Thinking material
One of the most significant points is the material the table is made of. Tables made of wood create a warm, homely atmosphere; also, they don’t show fingerprints and signs of wear so much. Also, you can try bamboo; if you don’t mind heavy stuff, look at concrete and marble tables.
Nowadays you can also opt for moderner materials: glass, MDF and others. They may mean more maintenance work, though, to keep your glass shiny and bright.
How to save space
If you are in need of space, think of replacing chairs with a bench on each side of your table. Choose your benches well so you can stash them out of sight for the time they are not needed.
How to Visualize Your Future Dining Table?
Vizualization will be a great help if you want to make sure you get a really nice thing. But you must sweat some to make good use of it. Take the measures of the floor, then measure out the size of the table and put something in this space to imitate the table. Walk around it and get the feel of the place. Invite your friend for help with tape measure and an extra opinion on what kind of table will serve you best.
