If you read the news, then you are misinformed about family dining. That’s because the news is constantly running stories about how Americans don’t eat together anymore. Whoever is responsible for cranking out these “newsworthy ” “studies” would have you believe that everyone eats alone. Sad.
But you’re smart. You stay up to date on family dining trends by reading The Official Happy Sleeper Mattress & Furniture Store Blog, which is why you now know the opposite is actually true. Family dining has never been more popular.
And it’s easy to see why. When you dine with your family, you get to show off the cooking skills you learned from watching Iron Chef. (They’ll never know you stole your green bean casserole recipe from Mario Batali.) And when you dine as a family, you get to spend extra precious time with the people you love and cherish most.
The Perfect Dining Room Table Can Be Yours
With the two biggest family dining events of the year looming closely ahead, you are probably considering making a few tasteful improvements to your dining room. First and foremost, you would like a new dining room table. The perfect dining table, no less, which, in addition to serving its primary purpose, will also fit your dining room and improve your home’s ambiance.
You will find endless dining room tables to choose from. You could spend several million dollars on the Troupeau D’éléphants Dans Les Arbres’ Table the next time it goes up for auction. Or you could get a real steal of a deal on an Ikea table that was formerly used for beer pong by Delta Sigma Phi. Of course, you’d probably prefer a dining room table that falls somewhere between those two in terms of quality.
Fortunately, you can get the perfect dining table for a reasonable price (especially at Happy Sleeper Mattress & Furniture Store in Waite Park, MN, which just so happens to offer the best dining room furniture the greater St. Cloud, MN area has to offer). Just keep a few things in mind as you peruse all the available tables, and the table you were always meant to have will jump right out at you.
How to Choose the Perfect Dining Room Table
The perfect dining room table is not too big, not too small, not matched to the floor, and the right shape. Here’s what we mean by all that.
1.) Not too big. An ugly dining table can be fixed with a tablecloth. A midsized dining table cannot. That requires picking a dining table which allows diners to comfortably take and rise from their seats, which means there must be at least 42 to 48 inches of clearance between the walls and all sides of the table. Other furniture should also stay the same minimum distance from the dining table.
2.) Not too small. The average person gets uncomfortable when they have less than 2 feet of dining space. People don’t like bumping elbows while they’re eating hotdish – spoils the experience – so make sure your new dining table is big enough to accommodate the whole fam. (A drop leaf dining table is great when you occasionally need extra space for special guests, like your in-laws when they show up for dinner unannounced.)
3.) Not matched to the floor. Following this tip will enhance your whole home’s aesthetics. If you have a wood floor (or an equally tasteful vinyl plank floor), then you don’t want it to match wooden furniture of the same color. You might think a maple dining table makes sense for a maple floor, but the two would only blend together to make the room look drab and kind of empty.
4.) Just the right shape. Rectangle. Square. Round. Oval. These are the four primary dining table shapes. Maybe there is a triangle dining table out there somewhere, or a rhombus one. We don’t waste our time thinking about such strange things. We focus on recommending the ideal dining table shapes instead.
- Rectangular dining tables are ideal when you don’t want to block foot traffic through long, narrow spaces. A 6-foot-long table comfortably seats six people; 8 foot, 10 people; 10 foot, 12 people. Substitute a row of chairs with a bench if you want to create more space around the table!
- Square dining tables are just right for – you guessed it – square rooms. They also provide a more intimate dining experience because they position everyone an equal distance apart from each other (assuming it’s a four-person table). Good for eating square meals on.
- Round dining tables are perfect for smaller spaces because they fit well in tight spots. They also don’t have corners, which is why a round table won’t stab you when you bump into it in addition to seating more people. A pedestal base round table leaves even more space for chairs!
- Oval dining tables also lack sharp corners that can dig into your sides, yet still have the same surface size as analogously sized rectangular tables. An oval table’s graceful curves can really help to soften an intimate dining room’s aesthetics.
We saved the most important dining room table shopping tip for last: don’t do it online. You’ll only recognize the dining table of your dreams if you see it in person – preferably at a furniture store in Waite Park, MN that serves the greater St. Cloud, MN area. Come visit our showroom at 4 24th Ave S in Waite Park today, or contact us to learn more about the fine furniture we have in stock!