8 Dining Room Tables that Make Us Hungry
Sitting down to a wonderful dinner with great friends is one of our favorite things to do. So it’s no surprise that we’re always on the lookout for fabulous dining room tables. We like them in all shapes and sizes – from big and rectangular to tiny and round.
When you’re buying a dining room table, it’s important to think about how you’re planning to use it. Fancy dinners or casual nights of dinner and homework? It’s also important to think about how many people you’ll want to seat at the table. Twenty-four inches per person is a good rule of thumb – though most guests won’t mind if you squeeze them just a little, as long as the party’s fun enough.
Plus, what’s a little closeness between friends, especially when the table itself is absolutely gorgeous. It’s tough to narrow down, but here are ten of our favorites:
1. The Tulip
We love round dining room tables – it’s the best way to see everyone’s face. This table, designed by Eero Saarinen, is a classic – as it should be. The shape is simple and perfectly elegant. We love it with a marble top: 
2. Th Spanna Extension Table
Finding the right dining table for small homes and apartments is notoriously difficult, especially if you don’t host dinner parties every other night. For spaces like that, we love extending tables, like the Spanna extension table, which looks cool whether it’s open or folded up tight:
3. The Portman
In some homes, a traditional, conservative solid wood table is the obvious – and best – choice. For that look, we love Restoration Hardware, which creates tables with gravitas that are built to last generations:
The tables created by Turning House Furniture are gorgeous and they’ve also got a great story, as they’re all made with reclaimed wood. We love anything with a history – and the sustainability of the tables is extra icing. It’s difficult to choose a favorite, though we admit that we’re partial to simple lines of the Bruges Tailor Table:
5. The Strut
Blu Dot is famous for very simple, straightforward, modern design, and their Strut table is not exception. We love it in red – it’s a bold statement and definitely declares that its owner is a lot of fun:
6. The Norfolk
We’re a sucker for any tables that look right at home outside – dining al fresco happens to be one of our favorite pastimes. We’re smitten, then, with the Norfolk table from Pottery Barn. It’s pretty and could easily be dressed up for a fancy dinner party, but is also just perfect for Tuesday night dinner with the fam:
The Amish are (deservedly) famous for their high quality Mission-style furniture, which is very much at home in casual and modern environments. We love this table, especially, with its trademark Mission bars:
We absolutely love the double-table look for small spaces and areas that need flexibility. If you’ve got a big crowd, you can always move one of the tables to a different part of the home for double-duty as a bar or side table:
This look doesn’t have to break the bank, either. A pair of Parsons style tables from IKEA can do the trick, too, on a seriously attractive budget.
Do you have a dream dining room table? Please share your favorites in the comments.
[Photo credit: Dining room from Houzz.com]
When she’s not mopping up juice spills, Kit throws way-too-big parties, cooks complicated dinner, and decorates (and redecorates) her house. Plus, she writes about all of it – both the fabulous and the disastrous – for Examiner.com, Baltimore Magazine, Houzz.com and on her personal blog, Mango & Ginger.
