Ideally allow at least 3 feet for each chair (2' chair depth + 1' to get in and out). So if you have a 12' space, 6' might be taken up by chairs. That means you can fit a 72" round but wouldn't have a lot of extra space. The leaf would make it really tight. I'm all for extra space, but I fell in love with a round table, so I will deal. I have an 8x8 space plus walk room on one side, and I picked out a 48" round table. I have no extra room on some sides but the roundness helps. There are a lot of options. I would go into a showroom and ask the sales associate for help. There are convertible tables, thin pedestals, variable tabletops, exterior and interior legs, 3 legged tables in addition to leafs. Sorry that was probably not much help. I went into a crate and barrel showroom and asked for help and I was able to figure out what I wanted through the process of elimination. They have enough different configurations that you can get an idea of what will and will not work in your space. I would optimize floor space for your family and only add the extra tabletop space when you absolutely have to. The chairs make a big difference in how much space you have around the table when not in use. You can choose uncomfortable chairs that fit tightly against the table (if the table allows) or comfy upholstered chairs that take up more space when pushed in as much as possible. If you go rectangular, you have the option of benches. They have upholstered benches too. Every inch matters. If you can trim a few inches off the chairs or table edges or scooch the chair under the table a bit more, you may be able to come up with another 6-8" around the table. This one says it will fit 6-8, but I wonder if you could get more kids around it if you use benches. (It's not the most attractive IMO.) Table goes from 34x57 to 57x68.

Thanks Patricia for taking the time to read my post! I agree with the built-in banquette seating. My finance is pretty convinced that it's a great idea for big family dinners (which is funny since most meals we eat out OR eat in front of the TV since we live in a condo and it's only the 3 of us). As for the pictures, I took these with a wide angle lens, which unfortunately distorts the edges of the pictures (ie like a fisheye lens, but less severe). I took them like this to fit more of the room into a single snap shot. While the drawing isn't 100% to scale, it, for the most part it shows the correct scaling of the walls, nooks and crannies. We're mostly hoping to have general furniture layout suggestions to keep the room looking not awkward, with clean sight lines from walking up the stairs, out the patio and from the kitchen (far screen left in the diagram; it's cut off, but will be a full kitchen that has a pony-wall overlooking the stairs).

A round chandelier will soften the linear lines of the space and the table, and will work better for the size of the space. In Galilee lighting we offer unique lighting made of hand blown glass in any size or length, We invite you to visit our website to view our unique lighting collections. If you would like to receive our catalog by email and get more ideas, contact Sales@GalileeLighting.com or visit www.GalileeLighting.com We offer free design consultation, to design the perfect size of chandelier for your space. Call us at 305-807-8711.

living room is 13' x 18' l shaped dining room is 11 x 11' approx.