I'm not an expert by any means, but you have an interesting question. My thought would be that if the table is floating in the middle of the room, it would look better to have the settee shorter than the length of the table, as it is essentially taking the place of chairs. However, if the settee were to be against a wall, anchoring the eating area there, it might look better to have it be a bit longer than the table.

That's my purely unscientific opinion.

I was going to say most definitely shorter, until i read jakabedy's response...that actually makes sense. It the settee were against a wall I don't think it would look the least bit strange to have it be longer than the table - it's be acting as sort of a banquette bench.

I'm not sure if you've done this already (probably!) but I just did a google image search for "dining table with settee" and it turned up lots of pictures...you might look through those and see what you think of the longer settees.

Thanks, madtown and jakeby. The sofa will be against a wall, centered in the room.

I've actually done a ton of google searches for "settee dining" but wasn't really focused on the length. I was interested more in finding a sofa that might work, as opposed to a bench or dining settee a settee with a straight back and higher seat will probably work better than a sofa, but doesn't look as comfortable!).

I found some Lee Industries Coverall sofas and dining settees that might work so now I'm focused on the length of the seating. I saw a lot of larger couches that were paired with smaller round/oval tables but I'll check again for rectangular tables.

I'm also worried about being able to get in and out of the sofa and not sure if the size will help either way. Maybe I'll take a field trip to the furniture store to find out!

I would also think you might want to consider the size of the arms on the sofa/settee in your deliberations. I think it looks more difficult to negotiate if the table was longer and the sofa/settee had large/high arms. Then it might look better for the sofa/settee to be longer than the table length. If the arms are small, or is armless - then the shorter table length would be more comfortable and it would not look that awkward.

Here are a few from Houzz..maybe you've seen them already. Looks like most are longer than or equal to the length of the table.

[traditional dining room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2107) by birmingham interior designer Tracery Interiors

[mediterranean dining room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/mediterranean-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2109) by los angeles interior designer Tracy Murdock Allied ASID

[asian dining room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/asian-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2102) by interior designer Karen Maximo-Fernando

[modern dining room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2105) by boston interior designer Kristen Rivoli Interior Design

And don't forget to get a settee that is the proper height for your dining table. Most settees that are not made for dining are shorter.

Thanks, olychick. I saw a few with the oval tables (love the sofa in the first one) but not the others.

I've been looking for the higher seat but I'd love to find one that's made for dining and also has the softer back with cushions, so it's more comfortable. So far, I'm only seeing the cushions on loveseats with the lower seat heights.

The Lee Industries coverall sofas have seats 19" high and the dining settee seat is is 20" (not as cushioned though). Both of these are shorter than a 6' table.

Lee Slipcovered Dining Settee 20"h seat (doesn't look very comfortable)

Lee Slipcovered Loveseat 19"h seat (looks very comfortable!)