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Home Decorating Furniture Design Dilemma

Square Dining Room, what shape table?

last year

last modified: last year

Our dining room is about 14' square, with a wall of windows and 3 walls with doorways. One wall has wide French Doors to the living, the other wall has a door opening to the kitchen and another has French Doors to the porch. House is built in 1910.

Do we get a 60 or 72" round dining table or stick to our 7' rectangle table? If we get a round table, should we get a 10' square rug?

edited to add: the chandelier is centered in the coffered ceilings and because of the French doors to the living room it makes everything off-centered because the table, regardless of shape, has to be closer to the back wall of windows for ppl to be able to walk around it.

Featured Answer

Juliet

last year

I think round would be lovely in the square room. i think the bigger size would fill out the space. i would create a large round template on the floor to help visualize a round table.

For rug, I think a square one would be great under a round table. I agree probably 10’ with the rug.

Comments (14)

L.D. Johnson
last year
Pretty room. Not a pro here, but I would stick with your current table unless you never plan to entertain a bigger group. It offers more flexibility in terms of pulling up an extra table to expand seating. I have a large round table, and it's beautiful, but there is a lot of wasted space in the middle and it really doesn't lend itself to being placed anywhere but centered in the room.
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Your space can handle it! If you go for round I suggest a pedestal so no issue with legs. Large square tables are rare and I view them as a more modern or casual look. We have a round that is 54" that has casters for ease of moving / cleaning. 6 chairs around it at all times. 4 use it regularly (we have only ONE dining area in this house) and sit next to one another so it takes some getting used to - imagine talking to someone next to you at a wedding reception. We have a 22" lazy susan which makes it easier to pass a serving dish. If we bring out our folding chairs (those white ones in a banquet hall you can get covers for) we can do 8. We have a 8' round rug that I wish was a little bigger.
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Need help on size and shape of dining room table
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A good design rule is to leave 3 ft all the way around the table for circulation and chair space. That would make your largest allowable table size to be 5ft x 6ft.
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What shape and size chandelier over this square table?
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Where is the table . I hope not in the DR. As for chandelier IMO not really something needed over a bar table. I think we need more info.
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Square dining room...is a round table a must?
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Comments (1)
I would try a long farmhouse style table centered to the room. Find one that you love and tape it out on the floor to make sure it’s a good size. (If you can maybe Wait until you move in to learn the space better)
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Yayagal
last year
I would get a round one but that's just me.
Lyn Nielson
last year
I vote for round with the largest sq. rug you can find.

Need to make sure chairs are on the rug when they are pulled away from the table.

... and lower the light fixture to 30" above the table center.
dancingqueen7827
last year
I also vote round! I’d actually do no rug and remove the light fixture. Your floors are beautiful and the light fixture compete with the gorgeous architectural beams.
elcieg
last year
Round.
ffpalms
last year
I agree with most that round would be best-preferably with a pedestal. It offers the most leg room and is the easiest to add another chair when necessary. And then there’s the bonus of having the chandelier centered over the table.
circonium
last year
I have a square dining room and a round table. it becomes oval when I put leaves in, but I think either way the shape works well with the room..
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
Your decision should be based on how you plan to use the table, how you like to set a table and the final appearance of the room.
Hillary
Original Author
last year
@BeverlyFLADeziner this is amazing, thank you! The 72" doesn't look that much bigger than the 60" table.
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
The illustration is not to scale. Don’t base your decision on that
PRO
BeverlyFLADeziner
last year
Here is a sizing chart
ratherbeatthebeach
last year
There's an awful lot of linear stuff going on in that room. Round would be a great contrast.
ffpalms
last year
I’d do a round table with a pedestal base so there are no legs to get in the way, especially when adding more chairs to the table when needed.

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