My Search for the Perfect Wood Dining Table & Chair Pairing

Links / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 /

I’ve always dreamed of having a wood dining table where we can gather around for meals or tea, but not be overly concerned about damaging the surface with everyday use. I love the minimal scandic designs, but also the refined rustic farmhouse style and hints of midcentury modern. I went with number 1 above and absolutely love it. For reference, I ordered it in 36” x 60”, white oak.

Here was my process for choosing our dining table:

budget & quality

I went into this knowing this was one of the house items I would splurge a bit on. Knowing dining tables were quite expensive, especially wood ones, I wanted to buy something that would last (and also because I prefer to only buy once).

standard sizes

I started my search by looking at what standard sizes looked like. I found rectangular table lengths tend to be in the 70-72” and 80-84” ranges. 50” and below tended to be circular tables or squares. A premium 60” length rectangular table was rare (but I found one!).

pick a size

To get a sense for ideal sizing for our dining room, I laid out blue painter’s tape on the floor with some extra strips to factor in room for chairs. My ideal table length was about 60” for the space and I could fit six people around the table. I also loved option 9, but they didn’t have a length that fit into my space.

Expandable or Non-Expandable?

I weighed the pros and cons quite a bit. I loved having the flexibility to expand a table. However, I eventually went with non-expandable as I preferred the wood grain to flow along the length of the table.

pairing chairs

Links / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 (out of stock) / 5 / 6 (out of stock) /

I always like to consider the whole vision of what I’m trying to create. For me, this meant factoring in wall paint color (Benjamin Moore Simply White) and chair pairing. I wanted to go with some warm neutrals and did a search online for chairs in woods and whites. In the end, I went with an unfinished wood, Wooden Michael Thonet Chair with a Beechwood Frame (6) so that I could better match the coloring to the table myself. It’s currently out of stock due to COVID, but I’m looking for a similar link.

Here are other chairs I loved, but just didn’t match my budget or scheme:

material, color, & finish

I knew I wanted wood and was considering reclaimed wood, oak, and walnut. I ordered sample chips of the tables to confirm before taking the leap on a large online purchase. Highly recommend doing this if you can’t go look in person. For instance, I found I didn’t like the texture of reclaimed wood despite how it looked in photos. I went for a white oak in a matte finish instead.

We’re enjoying the new additions to our dining room and very happy with the selections. Hope this helps you in your search! Thanks for reading!