5 Tips for Picking the Right Dining Table for Your Home

So, you are having trouble picking just the right handmade or custom dining table for your home. People don’t realize it, but it is a big decision. You want the one you pick to last a while and fit your lifestyle. If you have a big family, then you want one that suits them. If you don’t have a big house and live in, say, a condo in the city, you want one that matches your style and/or type of residence. Either way, whichever kind of life you live, you want to be sure that you don’t put money into something that you will regret buying later on.

All that being said, there is a list of things that you should be thinking about beforehand so that you are happy with the dining table you buy. Just like any other similar articles of furniture (slab tables or custom wood tables, for example) you need to be thinking about how large or small your dining table will be, how strong you need it to be, and what you want it to be made out of. You should also consider before buying what shape you want your dining table to be, as well as how many seats you want it to have.

How Large or Small Do You Want (Need) It To Be?

If you have a large family, then what you need out of a custom made dining table may outweigh what you want. If you are a single person, then it may be vice versa depending on how your residence is set up. This is not to say that every person who is living single will not have a lot of gatherings but in general, a family will need a larger table. Either way, before buying you need to make a concrete decision about the size of dining table you are getting.

There are few things you can look at to determine the right size of custom or handmade dining table you should purchase. Firstly, do you know the dimensions of your dining room? This is very important when purchasing large furniture. And, you want to know beforehand how much space will be left in the room once the new table is placed in there. A good rule of thumb is to make sure that the chairs will be a good distance from the walls (42-48 inches) so that your family and company have room to move around.

Also, how many people will you have sitting at the table on a regular basis? If you are a new family who is planning to have more children, here is where you may want to consider buying a larger table than you may need. This way you won’t buy one, get attached to it, then have to give it up after a few years because you had triplets! No, just kidding, but it’s still a good idea to either buy a larger table or get one that is easily adjustable.

How Strong Do You Need It To Be?

You know the life you live. You know that you have frequent dinner parties with family and friends, and some of them can be a little rough on some the furniture in your home. While you will enforce the rules as much as you can to spare any damage (although drunk visitors barely listen) there will be some inevitable wear and tear to the table. This is especially true if you have children, so considering how durable you need your dining table to be is not a bad idea, especially if you are planning on keeping it for years to come.

Make sure that the legs on the table are solid. When holidays come around, your dining room table will be holding a lot more weight than the rest of the year, and it will be one of your most embarrassing moments for one of the legs to give out and have your dinner spread out across the floor. Even if you are a single person who just will hold cards games at your house from time to time, there is always that overweight friend who will reach across the table, leaning most of their human mass onto it.

If you purchase a custom or handmade dining room table that has extensions on it, you should be sure that the table is just as strong when the extensions are used. Still, making sure that the base of the table is solid is probably the most important thing in determining how durable you need it to be. As the years go by, and random accidents and potentially damaging occurrences happen, you will be glad that you thought to get a good sturdy dining room table for you and your guests to enjoy.

What Materials Should it be Made Out Of?

With the current trend of live oak wood dining room tables sweeping the nation, your first choice is probably to buy one of these. It’s a wonderful decision, especially if you are looking for a combination of durability and style in your new table. What kind of wood will look best in your dining room? There are many to choose from depending on the overall décor in the room already. Do you want a lovely mahogany one? How about a durable oak custom dining room table? Maybe the interior could use a teak table to enhance the setting…there are many to choose from.

What about a glass table instead of wood? Needless to say that if you have a family you would have to consider how old your children are and if a glass would be safe and/or sturdy enough. Still, if you choose a glass table, it gives you a chance to switch up your chairs more often. This is because you are not essentially trying to match them with the table itself, and glass tables have the effect of making a space lighter and brighter. As far as a glass table being safe, the ones today are heat resistant and made of temper-safety glass.

What Shape Do You Desire?

Custom made dining room tables come in many sizes – square, rectangle, circles, you name it. There are no rules here, it just depends on the size of the room and the effect you want it to have. For example, if you want the room to have a more intimate setting, you could go with a round table for small romantic dinners. If the room itself has wide dimensions, you may want to go with a rectangle shaped table, one that is adjustable for more or less space when you need it.

How Many Chairs Should It Have?

This decision is one that will also line up with your lifestyle. But it is not only about the chairs themselves and how many you have. You should also consider how much space is underneath the table when it is full of people. If you purchase a table with a pedestal base it may seat a handful of folks comfortable. But, depending on the size of your family, you may choose to have legs as a base, which are a consistent feature of larger handmade or custom wood dining tables.