I'm having a 5 foot long and 24 inch wide table built for our small breakfast nook. It can't be any wider or it will interfere with the path from the door outside to the kitchen. I plan on using it for people to sit on one side and talk to me while I cook or a place where my husband can bring in one or two cowboys for a cup of coffee. Tall people can sit on the ends. But since it will mostly be for two people to four, it will be great. We are having steel legs bent. Then putting a hardwood irregular top on it. Kind of like Urban Hardwoods table. Here is a link that might be useful: Urban Hardwoods

Here's another point of view from someone who went with a counter height set that is open to the kitchen. We were at a friend's home one evening when we were just planning our new home build. It was a casual get-together with wine & cheese, beer and pizza. They had an island in the kitchen with a counter height table set adjacent to it. Everyone gathered in that area and had a place to sit to eat. Since we were all on the same level, it was easy for a group of people to be connected, while still having that informal feel. Because it's so easy to just step off the counter height chairs (counter - not bar height)it was also much easier for people to mill around the area to grab an appetizer or replenish a drink compared to raising oneself up and down from a regular seating height table. The atmosphere just seemed very casual and relaxed. On the way home that night I told DH I had decided to go counter height. For the way we live and entertain, it just works for us.

Hi Emily- Congratulations on your new home! The dining area is the space with the wood floor adjacent to the kitchen counter. I would remove the bench to ensure there is enough space to pull out the chairs and to walk on either side of the table. There should be three feet of space on either side of the table to ensure chairs can be pulled out and people can sit comfortably. As to your musing- " It feels strange for the dining room table to be on the carpet, so far from the kitchen but it also seems strange to have a breakfast nook on one side and a dining room table off the other side. " You are absolutely right. It is downright ridiculous that these days houses are designed with three places to eat so close together, a breakfast nook, counter space, and a dining are, all open to each other, and there is no real design thought put into it at all. I am not a fan of eating at a counter, find stools markedly uncomfortable, and not at all conducive for family meal conversations and appropriate table manners. Furthermore, I sure as heck don't want to be treated like a short order cook. Do you? Can people really not walk 3 more feet to the dining table and sit in a proper chair and face each other? I would get rid of the counter chairs and use the space where the chairs are for more storage. There are many things you can do with the "breakfast nook," depending on what your needs are. A reading room is a great idea, and if you put a table in there it can be your study/office. Another though is if you need a place for your children to work on the computer in the open while supervised, that might be a good place as well. That could be the homework room and reading room. You could get a comfy chair and ottoman for the wall opposite the door, a small low bookcase on the wall under the window and put it next to the chair and the top can serve as your "side table" if there is no room for a side table on the outside of your chair. On the far side of the bookcase you can have a table and straight chair for laptop use in front of where the outlet is. If you have two children you can get two tables and put the tables at right angles, one against the wall under the windows, and the other one at right angles to that. One chair faces the window. The other chair is at right angles but on the outside of the other table.

Yes... I was originally going to make the tabletop 36"W, but after reading those specs on Arhaus.com I decided to widen it to at least 38" to accommodate the bases. The mounting issue was another thing I tried to discuss with the online "designer" and didn't get any help with. In this picture it looks like there are holes on the top of them, but since my top is 2 cm quartz, I won't be using any screws into it to attach them. The stone fabricator will install the top similar to how they install countertops to cabinet bases, using a special epoxy glue. But I will definitely show these bases to them first to make sure it can be attached properly! As far as other coordinating colors in my home, I am planning on replacing most of the existing fixtures (except wood floors) so I'm basically starting from scratch with the 2 tables in question, the tan leather sofa and 3 kitchen chairs I already have. From there I will decide on barstools, light fixtures, rugs, banquet cushions and other accessories, incorporating an accent color or 2 in some of those. Interesting idea to do the bar table legs in an fun accent color, but I think choosing that now would be putting the cart before the horse! Maybe I'll skip that step for now and keep the existing black legs that are on it (knowing that they will eventually be changed) until I choose my kitchen table base and barstools. Does anyone else think the brass bases might look more (or too) formal than the black ones?