How to Choose a Dining Table: 5 Decisions

How to Choose a Dining Table: Size, Shape, Material

By Alexandra PetterssonReviewed by Alexander TjernströmUpdated 1 November 2026

Short answer

Per person: about 60 cm
Clearance: 90 cm around
Height: 76 cm

Choose in this order: how many sit there most weeks, 90 cm clear around the table, round or long, oak or stone, then chairs that fit under. Ours are 76 cm high, 160, 240 or 280 cm long, or round ø110 or ø140 cm.

A dining table is the piece you keep longest, and the one most often bought too big or too small. The mistake is starting with the look. Start with the people and the room, and the look narrows itself. Here are the five decisions in the order that saves money, with the numbers for our four tables.

1. How many people, most weeks?

Size for the usual week, not for Christmas. Allow about 60 cm of table edge per person.

Ann and Melker take one more chair at each end. We do not make an extending table. Buy the length you use, and borrow chairs for the big days.

1. How many people, most weeks?
Table	Seats
Round ø110 cm	4
Round ø140 cm	6
160 cm	4
240 cm	6
280 cm	8

2. Will it fit the room?

Leave about 90 cm between the table edge and a wall or a sideboard, so someone can pull a chair out and someone else can walk behind. 75 cm is the tight minimum.

So a 160 by 90 cm table needs a space of roughly 340 by 270 cm. Tape the outline on the floor before you order.

3. Rectangular, oval or square: which shape for which room?

Rectangular for a long room, an open plan and more than six people. Round for a square room, a small one, or where everyone should talk to everyone. Oval and square sit in between, and we make neither.

Luna ø110 cm seats four, ø140 cm six. Past six, a rectangle seats more on the same floor, and Ann and Melker take one more chair at each end. A square table puts four people close together; a round Luna does the same in a square room, with no corners to walk into.

3. Rectangular, oval or square: which shape for which room?
Shape	Suits	From us
Rectangular	Long rooms, open plans, six or more	Ann, Melker, Diana: 160, 240, 280 cm
Round	Square or small rooms, four to six	Luna: ø110 or ø140 cm
Oval	Long rooms where you want no corners	We do not make one
Square	Square rooms, four people	We do not make one

4. Oak or stone, legs or frame?

Solid oak is warm and can be refinished, but wants a mat under red wine. Ann is oak top and legs. Melker and Diana put an oak top on a welded steel frame, which looks lighter in a small room.

Sintered stone on Diana takes heat and stains better than any wood, and does not need sealing. It is not marble.

5. Do the chairs fit?

Our tables are 76 cm high with 73 cm under the top. A dining chair seat of 46 to 50 cm leaves room for knees. Check armrests: they must clear 73 cm to push in.

Check the legs too. On Ann the legs sit 12.4 cm in from the short ends and 17.5 cm in from the long sides, so chairs slide in between.

People, room, shape, top, chairs

Round: ø110 or ø140 cm
Long: 160, 240, 280 cm
Under the top: 73 cm

Size for the usual week, keep 90 cm clear, pick round for small rooms and long for six or more, oak for warmth or stone for wear, and check chairs against 73 cm. Made in Sweden, 10-year warranty.