I've always dreamed of owning a round table - it seems so much more inviting and friendly to me. Mine will be arriving any day now and I can hardly wait! I've never been so excited about a piece of furniture before, lol.

My DR is semi-formal - in it's own room but open to all the other rooms. But round tables can be very formal looking, depending on they style and the chairs.

Only neg I have ever hear is that it can be hard to pass things across the table or to reach to the middle, if it's very large. Mine is 60" w/o the leaves -wish I could tell you how it's working for us.

We have a round DR table, even though our DR is too narrow to really accommodate it. It is the friendliest shaped that there is. We also have a round table on our outside patio. We find that when we have large parties and set up a round and a rectangular table,e veryone is at the round table at the end of the party. At a round table, you can make eye contact with everyone-- or squeeze in an extra chair.

Round takes up a LOT of room. I didn't find them "conversation friendly" as much as rectangular either. Too far away from people.

We have a rectangular table in our dining area. It's a lovely table; quartersawn oak (under one coat of white paint!) and it will extend to seat 12 people. Sadly, the extension leaves (save one) are lost. I don't particularly like it. I have a walnut, dropleaf table with extension leaves in the "wings". It is "oval" when fully extended.

Below is a link from a very, savvy guy. I have commissioned him in the past, though not for a table (I am delighted with the result). He is honest, straight forward, and I hope what I've linked will give some points to consider before you make your choice. He asks great questions!

If the link isn't direct, click on Resources and go to dining tables.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chosing a dining table

I have the teeny weeny dining area 12' x 8.5' and i am in the round vs rectangle mode as well. Right now i have a little 42 inch round. I like the feeling of round only because it breaks up the boxiness of the house. I really cant angle anything and so the living room which joins with the dining area is very squared off. It feels like shoe boxes to me.

I remember going to a friends for Christmas as a kid and they had this huge distressed round pedestal with giant claw feet and something about it seemed magical to me. I just loved sitting in a circle for some reason. I have liked round tables ever since.

I have been looking at a 48 inch round pedestal to go in there and I am hoping it will not eat up the room. The 42 works fine... whats a few more inches ?

After going through Oceannas dining room thread I also found myself drawn to the round tables. If you have not had a look at that in the gallery check it out. I gives you a great view of different tables and how they feel.

We recently replaced a dropleaf table for an inherited round one and LOVE the difference it made in our 10 x 10 DR.

Even though we usually only had 1 side of the old table up for just the 2 of us, the square shape was crowding and awkward. When we had company and raised the other side, it was hard to move around. The width was only 46".

The round table is 48" and the traffic flow around it is great. The lack of corners, even though the width is more, makes it look much more in scale to the room. We can both sit there in comfort and have had 4 there w/ plenty of room. Both tables are antiques and the dropleaf has already found a home in the den. The round one came w/ 5 leaves... which would expand the table out into the LR if we used them all. LOL!

Conversations are so much easier to have at a round table and if you have any "lefties" they never have to worry which corner they have to sit at!

LOL, Syllabus!

My father was a southpaw... and I totally "get" what you just said. Haven't had to think about that in years.

:(

Thanks for all the responses! I am a bit afraid that my dining room won't be able to handle quite so much table. It's a whopping 66"diam table and no leaf so that may not be the most practical solution. Currently we have in there an oval table (sit 6)-dimension is about 42x66. Originally I'd planned to get a table w/ leaf so that it can be extended to sit more people. However, I met this round pedestal table which I really like....and hence the dilemma..:-)

I would love to have a round d/r table. We've now entertained for 25 years on the rectangular table we purchased before we actually entertained! I usually do most of the holidays, and I curse it at each occasion:))). More so after I saw a beautiful round d/r table in an antique shop in New Orleans in the late 90's. I would have purchased it, but DH doesn't think our room could have supported the size of the table we saw. That particular table seated 12. No leaves. The round is just beautiful. Like the link posted, it is more functional all around. The seating at a round table makes for easier conversation, you aren't yelling down to the other end of the loonnnggg table. Also, IMO, round is much more interesting decoratively speaking.

Post a pic if you do decide on the round, I'd love to see what you have chosen.

A question for those with large round tables - how does it work when you have only a small group, say 4 people? Our entertaining is one extreme or the other - either 18 for a holiday gathering or one other couple for a relaxed dinner. Love the look and idea of round but trying to visualize in my life.

We have a 54" round table. I had the same concerns as you, dlm. We are a family of 3 most days, but occasionaly we'll have the family over and have 10 or 13. So, I wanted the table to be comfortable for us every day and to be able to open the table for a large group. I also wanted a round table for conversation with the large group and for the looks. We had one made (local amish workshop) and it works beautifully for us. 54" is not too large for the 3 of us, but with 2 20" leaves and very small folding chairs (!), we can fit 13. The table is solid hand planed cherry and hides the marks from my dd well!

I have a 60" round table and I love it! It replaced a 60x40 rectangle that became too small for our family of 6. We were vacationing at Disney one year and went to a restaurant that seated us at a 60" round table and that is when I fell in love with the idea of a round. It does seem friendlier and invites better conversation. I would rather be at a round table in a moderate sized group than a rectangle anyday! I have friends who have a larger diameter table with a large lazy susan in the middle that matches the table. The serving dishes were placed in the middle, along with the bottle of wine for guests to serve themselves. No reaching or passing, and a lot of fun!

Growing up in a big family (7 kids) we had a rectangular table. Then we inherited a round pedestal table, which had leaves to make it an oval. The round was much better in terms of fitting everyone in. And the pedestal means that there are no table legs at the corners, so you can squeeze another chair in more easily.

We had that round/oval (depending on how many kids were at home) in several different dining rooms (military dad) and it fit even in the smallest. Mom was always yelling at us to get our feet off the base of the pedestal (it had some intricate inlay work).

My brother had it now, so I only get to sit at it on holidays.

I like the coziness and informality of a round table.
We have a 42" and a 48" round table. The smaller table is ideal for a small space, a little crowded I think for four adults.
The 48" has a pedestal leg and needs at least 3' on either side for comfortable seating. You can seat a couple of extra chairs around it before pulling out the extension leaves. It looks nice in a 12x12 or larger space.
Many, many years ago I had a rectangular table which worked just fine, but after I saw a round one I fell in love with it.
I do occasionally use tablecloths and it is a bit of a challenge to find large ovals without seams 2-3 feet from the ends!

I posted up a photo of the round table that I am looking at and some really lousy photos of the space that it is to fit in. If anyone can squint enough to see the room it now has a 42 inch round in it and I would like to put the 48 inch round (photo included) in there. Would love to get some feed back on that table if anyone has a second to look. I posted it as dining room table ideas.

Thanks
Kalinka

bellaflora,
Check out this website......
http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=38640&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&feat=33323-ppxs&dds=y

My dilemma solved itself! The lady decided to keep that antique table so I guess the search is on... :-)

I would really love a large round table but I don't know if my dining room can handle it.