Small dining room layout

[Weallgottachangesometime]

We have a small dining room and are trying to figure out how best to lay it out. Especially figuring out what shape table, and table position would work best.

attached is floor plans and photo of dining room in houses the same as ours.

Any suggestions?

we do eventually want to knock dining room and kitchen together but that won’t be for a while because our kitchen and flooring etc is new and because I can’t be arsed with the work for a while.

Any suggestions to make this workable for now.

2 points are- we’d like a table that seats 6 and we have 2 children so we would like some seating for them away from walls (because they get their sticky hand prints everywhere).

I would lay it out like photo 1 with some sort of sideboard unit to keep stuff in. What sort of flooring is in it? I would suggest laminate then cover your table in an oil cloth so you can happily use the area for craft projects. You can take the oil cloth off if you have people round and set the table nicely.

It’s carpet. I won’t change it for now because it was new before we bought last year. I will change to hard flooring when it’s worn though! Why on earth they did carpet I don’t know.

thanks for the opinion. I think that first photo is the best layout.
I was wondering about getting a round table.

I was going to suggest a round table as it might be easier to walk around. It would also make the room feel cosier plus it's easier to squeeze in an extra chair on a round table. I'd get oak or maybe a retro glass one, mainly because it may give the illusion of more space.

Google oval tables - we had one years ago and it was brilliant for not taking up much space but fitting loads of people around it. There are some lovely modern designs available and we found it really practical.

I know you said away from walls, but this would be space saving? Then have a bench on the non/-wall side for kids?

I suggest buying an extendable table so that when you knock the kitchen and dining room together there will be a little more room. You could also buy an extra couple of chairs to be used with it.

May I also suggest you make a mock up of the future table in newspaper or pin up a sheet to the size of the top. You can then add (real) chairs and see if it works with different sizes.

get a pedestal table (one leg in the middle) not the 'legs right in the corner' tables which are fashionable these days. a pedestal table gives you much more flexibility to add extra seats or have a bench seat etc.

And look at the position of the legs of the table, a central column gives the most room around the edge for seated people. Another option is a slim leg in each extreme corner of the table.

I have seen extending tables where two (short end) legs pull out so that, even after extending the table, there is still only a leg in each extreme corner.

Another thing to consider is the width of the chairs you purchase. You might get an extra one in if they are fairly narrow.

Can you tell I spent many, many hours measuring and working out exactly what I needed in my new home?

And then there is what surface you require? Heatproof without mats for example or easily scratched fine veneer?

I love what I bought in the end - but it took me months to research it.

It's a big purchase and needs a good deal of thought.