To find out what makes a good dining table, we interviewed a master furniture restorer, an interior designer and four other industry experts, and reviewed hundreds of tables online and in person.
Our guide will help you determine the best size, shape, and style of table for your space, as well as what the table’s materials and design can tell you about its longevity.
Our selection of 7 table types includes small tables for 2-4 people, flip-top tables suitable for apartments, and tables suitable for restaurants that seat up to 10 people.
Aine-Monique Claret has been covering home furnishings for over 10 years as a lifestyle editor at Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day and InStyle magazines. During that time, she wrote several articles on home furnishings shopping and interviewed dozens of interior designers, product testers, and other industry experts. Her goal is to always recommend the best furniture people can afford.
To write this guide, Ain-Monique read dozens of articles, scoured customer reviews, and interviewed furniture experts and interior designers, including a furniture restoration guru and author of The Furniture Bible: What You Need to Know About Identification, Restoration, and Care ? Christophe Pourny, author of the book “Everything for Furniture”; Lucy Harris, interior designer and director of Lucy Harris Studio; Jackie Hirschhout, public relations specialist for the American Home Furnishings Alliance and vice president of marketing; Max Dyer, a furniture industry veteran who is now vice president of home goods; (hard furniture categories such as tables, cabinets and chairs) at La-Z-Boy Thomas Russell, senior editor of the industry newsletter Furniture Today, and Meredith Mahoney, founder and design director of Birch Lane;
Since choosing a dining table depends on the amount of space you have, your plans for using it, and your taste, we recommend some of the most common categories of dining tables. We didn’t do side-by-side testing of this guide, but we sat at every desk in stores, showrooms, or offices. Based on our research, we think these desks will last a long time and are one of the best desks under $1,000.
These tables can comfortably seat two to four people, maybe six if you’re good friends. They take up a small footprint so can be used in small dining spaces or as kitchen tables.
This solid oak table is more resistant to dents and scratches than cork tables, and its understated mid-century style will complement a variety of interiors.
Pros: The Seno Round Dining Table is one of the few hardwood tables we found for under $700. We find Seno to be more durable than comparable cork or wood tables because it is made from oak. Thin, spread legs create a stylish and medieval look without going overboard. Other mid-century style tables we’ve seen were either quite bulky, out of our price range, or made from planks of wood. Assembling the Seno was easy: it came flat and we just screwed the legs on one by one, no tools required. This table is also available in walnut.
One downside, but not a major one: We don’t yet know how this table will wear out over the long term, but we’ll keep an eye on our Seno as we continue to test it long-term. Owner reviews on the Article website are generally positive, with the table rated 4.8 stars out of 5 out of 53 at the time of writing, but many two- and three-star reviews say the tabletop scratches easily. However, given the durability of hardwood and the fact that we’ve found that Houzz readers are generally satisfied with Article Furniture’s delivery times and customer service, we still feel we can recommend Seno. We also recommend the Ceni sofa.
This is the best budget option we’ve found: a solid wood table and four chairs. This is an excellent choice for a first apartment. Keep in mind that soft pine wood dents and scratches easily.
Pros: This is one of the cheapest and best pre-finished solid wood tables we could find (IKEA has cheaper wood tables, but they are sold unfinished). Soft pine is more susceptible to dents and scratches than hardwood, but it can withstand cleaning and refinishing (unlike wood veneer). Many of the very cheap tables we see are made of metal or plastic and have a more modern shape, so they look like cheap restaurant tables. This model’s traditional styling and neutral coloring give it a higher quality, more expensive look. In the store, we found that the table is small but durable, so it can be easily moved around the apartment. If you upgrade to a larger space, you can also use it as a desk later on. Additionally, the set includes a chair.
Disadvantages, but not a dealbreaker: the table is small and quite comfortable for four people. The floor sample we saw had some dents, including dents that appeared to be caused by someone writ
Post time: Aug-07-2024