Having enough space at the dining room table is always an issue. Family members and dinner guests come in all shapes and sizes. Some sit prim and proper. Others like to spread out, and require lots of leg and elbowroom.

How do you buy a dining room table that can accommodate a wide range of diners?
Below are three essential steps you need to take to answer this question.

Take measurements

Make a detailed scale drawing of the room you are going to use the dining table in. This will let you know the shape of the dining table that will work best in your dining room, as well as the size table your dining room can accommodate. You will need to leave 5-6 feet from the edge of the table to the wall.

You may also want to draw scaled cutouts of the items already in the room so that you can try out different dining room furniture arrangements.

How many for dinner?

Next, decide how many people you want your dining room table to comfortably seat. Below are some general seating rules.

How many people your dining room table can seat depends on the shape of the table. The average diner needs 24 inches of space above the table (body + elbow room) and 14 inches of dining table depth under the table.

For rectangular dining tables:

• 5 feet seats 4-6
• 6 feet seats 6-8
• 7 feet seats 8
• 8 feet seats 8
• 9 feet seats 10

For round dining tables:

• 5 feet seats 8
• 6 feet seats 10
• 7 feet seats 9-11
• 8 feet seats up to 12
• 9 feet seats up to 14

Chair choices

Choosing the right chairs for the job is important. Check next week’s blog for tips on making the right choices in dining room chairs.