Dining Room Furniture Measuring Guide
A dining room is an essential part of any home, it's where friends and family gather to share meals and celebrate life's big moments. That's why it's important that your dining room be as functional as it is inviting. Whether you're shopping for a table or a whole new dining set, you need to make sure that it's a good fit for your living space. To ensure that your new purchase is a success, we've compiled some helpful tips and suggestions to help you accurately measure for a dining table and chairs.
Choosing the Right Size Dining Table
When shopping for a new dining table, it's important that you choose one that complements the size of your dining room. Tables that are too large can overwhelm a space and leave little room for much else, while tables that are too small can feel cramped and inadequate. Before you make a purchase, read our instructions below on how to accurately measure for a new dining table.
Determine your needs
To fully understand your needs, take a good look at your household. Do you have a large family that requires 8 or more seats at your table, or a small family that only needs 2 or 4 chairs? Do you love to entertain? Is it important that you also have room for a buffet or china cabinet in your dining area? All of these things are key factors in determining the table size that will work best for you.
Measure the space
Before purchasing a new table, you'll need to determine how much space you have to work with. Use a measuring tape to find the length and width of the dining room, then subtract 6-feet from each measurement. This equation will give you the maximum length and width for your dining table, while leaving 3-feet of space between the table and walls so people can easily pull out their chairs. If there are other pieces of furniture in the space, be sure to measure 3-feet out from them when determining the overall dimensions of the room.
Create an Outline
If you still need help envisioning how a new table will look in your dining room, consider creating an outline. With the tables overall dimensions in mind, use masking tape to make a square or circle on the floor. The outline does not have to be precise, it's simply meant to serve as a visual reference to give you a better idea of size and placement. You can then see how close the table outline is to the walls, doorways and other furniture in the room.
Table width
To find the width of a table, measure from side to side at the widest point of the table. If the table is round, measure straight across the middle of the table. The width of a table is an important measurement because it affects several things, including the flow of conversation, the passing of food, and the amount of serving pieces that can fit in the center. To be both functional and comfortable, a dining table should be between 36" and 48" wide.
Table length
To find the length of a table, measure the longest part of the table from end to end. This measurement will give you an idea of appropriate seating capacity. For optimum comfort, there should be a minimum of 24" between each person at the table. If you are also purchasing chairs, the length of the table will dictate how many chairs your table can accommodate. When measuring, be sure to factor in the table legs, which take up some space on both sides.