The Ultimate Dining Furniture Buying Guide

Whether you're hosting Sunday family roasts, entertaining dinner guests, or planning everyday family meals, our dining furniture buying guide will help you balance style, comfort, and space.

Find out how to measure your room, choose table shapes and extension mechanisms, select complementary seating, and pick long-lasting materials, all backed by our 5-year guarantee.

Step 1: Measuring Your Space & Seating Capacity

Accurate room planning ensures your dining area feels spacious and allows for effortless movement during meals.

• Wall & Furniture Clearance: Allow at least 90cm (3 feet) between the table edge and surrounding walls or adjacent furniture so diners can pull chairs out comfortably. For main walkways through the room, aim for 100cm to 120cm of clear space.

• Per-Person Elbow Room: Allocate 60cm of table width per person for comfortable casual dining; increase this to 70cm–75cm for formal dining settings or when using wider carver chairs with armrests.

• Table & Chair Heights: Standard dining tables measure approximately 75cm high, which pairs with standard chair seat heights of 45cm–48cm to leave a comfortable 25cm–30cm legroom gap beneath the tabletop.

Pro Tip: When measuring for an extending dining table, always measure your room against the table's fully extended dimensions to ensure you maintain full walkway clearance when hosting larger groups.

Step 2: Selecting Table Shapes & Extension Mechanisms

The shape and structural flexibility of your table determine how people interact in your space and how well the room handles varying guest numbers.

Table Shapes

• Rectangular: The classic choice for long, narrow dining rooms. Ideal for seating larger groups (6+ people) and accommodating end carver chairs.

• Round: Fosters intimate, inclusive conversation as every diner faces the centre. Perfect for square rooms, compact spaces, or open-plan kitchen nooks.

• Oval & Square: Oval tables provide the capacity of rectangular tables with smooth, rounded corners that improve room traffic flow. Square tables create symmetrical balance in smaller, square spaces for 4-seater setups.

Extension Mechanisms

• Butterfly Extension: The extension leaves are hinged and stored neatly inside the table frame. Simply pull the table ends apart and flip the "butterfly" leaf out to lock into place.

• Flip-Top & Drop-Leaf: Compact mechanisms ideal for smaller kitchens or open-plan areas where table space needs to double on demand.

• Slide-Out / Refectory Extensions: Heavy-duty end leaves that pull out from beneath the main tabletop, offering rapid transformation for frequent large-scale entertaining.

Step 3: Choosing Seating – Chairs vs. Dining Benches

Combining different seating styles adds visual interest and practical versatility to your dining setup.

Wooden & Upholstered Chairs

• Solid Wood Chairs: Offer classic strength, easy wipe-clean maintenance, and long-term durability for family homes.

• Upholstered Chairs: Wrapped in soft fabrics, velvets, or sleek faux leather, padded chairs provide superior comfort for lingering post-dinner conversations.

Dining Benches

• Space-Saving Design: Benches slide completely beneath the table when not in use, clearing vital floor space and walking paths.

• Flexible Seating Capacity: Excellent for accommodating extra guests or children during family gatherings where individual chairs might prove tight.

Mix-and-Match Styling Tips

To create a modern, curated dining aesthetic, combine a pair of cushioned carver chairs at the head and foot of the table with wooden side chairs or a matching dining bench along the sides.

Step 4: Comparing Materials & Dining Room Storage

Select high-grade materials crafted to withstand daily use, all covered by Fairway Furniture's 5-year structural guarantee.

Read our maintenance guide for wooden furniture to keep your dining room looking fresh and inviting for years.

Dining Room Storage (Sideboards & Display Cabinets)

Complete your dining room with matching storage solutions. Classic sideboards keep table linens, cutlery, and serving dishes organised close at hand, while glass-fronted display cabinets highlight glassware and dinner sets.

Find Elegant Dining Furniture At Fairway Furniture

Discover our complete collections of dining tables, chairs, and storage units built for lasting quality:

• Oak Dining Sets: Browse traditional and contemporary solid oak tables and matching chairs built to last generations.

• Extending Dining Tables: Explore versatile extending table designs in oak, painted timber, and ceramic finishes.

• Sideboards & Cabinets: Find functional storage sideboards and display cabinets that complete your dining room aesthetic.