What's the best way to find the right dining furniture for your needs? 

Come armed with your room dimensions and ensure that you allow for at least a one meter radius around the table for chairs to be comfortably pulled out. With the formal dining room disappearing from the modern home, most customers are looking for a table that is both practical for day-to-day use and refined enough for formal occasions

What should we look out for in a showroom? 

Look for durable surfaces that are practical for day-to-day use.

What are the hallmarks of a quality dining table?

Structurally sound designs made from durable materials. When looking for a timber dining table, look for quality materials such as walnut and cherry wood. Ensure that the wood has been seasoned correctly to allow for varying climate conditions so that the table will last through shrinkage and expansion. Quality, contemporary style tables are often made from hard wearing metal and stainless steel.

What are the hallmarks of a quality chair? Should it be heavy or light?

A heavy chair makes it hard to pull out and sit down on, so you’re less likely to sit and enjoy! A quality chair should have strong hind legs and should be designed to support stress points where the seat meets the back.

How important is comfort and durability? 

A good dining chair should be firm and comfortable to allow for you and your guests to sit and enjoy the occasion for longer

What are the rules of thumb for dining table size? 

Allow for 65cm per chair. This includes the space between each chair and a gap at the edges of the dining table. Ensure you also allow for space in the room for chairs to be pulled out.

What are the latest trends in shapes and styles?

With the formal dining room disappearing from the modern home, customers are choosing more lightweight and casual chairs to be used for day-to-day and formal dining.  Rectangle shapes in dining tables are now more popular than oval, however the trend in materials is still quite varied with timber, metals, glass and lacquer all popular options.

What should a larger family or keen entertainer be looking for?

Most tables need to be extended for entertaining to seat 10 to 12 people with an easy opening and closing manoeuvre. A quality extendable table will have leaf storage inside the top of the table.

What about couples? 

To maximise space, couples should look for an extendable table that is compact and easy to extend. Purchasing two small square tables that can be joined when entertaining guests is also a great option for couples. When not entertaining, one table can be used for day-to-day use while the other can be used as a hallway, occasional table.

What is selling well at the moment? Are timber tables still the biggest sellers – which timbers are people gravitating towards? 

Timber is always a popular option for dining tables. Walnut is usually our best seller with medium distressing features such as the Marchetti 616 dining table. Tables such as this are popular because they already have a beautiful aged look, making you less likely to be concerned about leaving those first few marks and scratches.

To find out more, visit domo.com.au

Related article: Care for your dining table

marina.williams@fairfaxmedia.com.au