Drop Leaf Dining Tables

Make A Statement with Your Dining Table

Discover the power of a gorgeous dining table to revolutionize every meal you serve and enjoy. While you may already love cooking and coming together as a family to dine, a refreshing dining area inspires new flavors, feelings and experiences. Even if you're just the type to put the take-out on clean plates, a new dining table can reinvigorate the dinner hour.

Pair yours with matching chairs, a rustic bench, runners and centerpiece accents to show off your style. Once you find the perfect table, the rest falls into place as easily as if you had a professional interior designer decorating your home. Shop Pottery Barn now to create the dining room your family deserves.

Focus on Your Dining Style

The kind of dining table that's best for your family is going to depend on your dining styles. Some families gather at the same time every day for a well-balanced meal and conversation. Others eat off shared plates, noshing and catching up on the day. Entertaining offers a new chance to show off your beautiful table, too.

Family dinners need more space than you might realize. Start with enough room for everyone to have a seat--then, figure you need a few extra seats for the friend who's still over when you start cooking or a neighbor who loves the smell of your kitchen. A rotating crew of extended family requires extra chairs, too.

• Get an extendable table for family-style dining. These tables feature a leaf that you can place into the center of the table or store away when not in use for a smaller table footprint.
• Entertaining is prime time to extend the table, but if you entertain frequently, you may want to commit to the long table in the first place. Get a bench to place alongside one side. Five chairs might crowd one side of the table, but five on a bench is cozy.
• Holidays might change your dining style. While you may all sit around a long table, you also might want to assign the table and a buffet, sideboard or counter for food service while everyone enjoys couches or outdoor seating.

Deciding on Square, Rectangle, Round or Oval

Dining room and kitchen tables come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Select the ones that are best for your rooms, keeping in mind you may dine, snack or enjoy beverages in different parts of your home.

• The classic dining room table is usually a long rectangle with armchairs at the heads of the table and dining chairs--traditionally armless, but any style you love is fine--along the sides. Recently, benches have hit the scene because they allow you to seat more people on the table's long side.
• In a more compact space, a square table seats four comfortably. These tables are great in a kitchen or a casual dining room with a bar.
• An oval or oblong table lets you have the same feel as a large, formal rectangular table, but with tapered ends, you're able to fit more table into a compact space. Many oval tables are round tables with extension leaves in them.
• A round dining table may be substantial enough to be a statement piece or a slimmer version can act as a cafe or bistro table in a kitchen, on a patio or in an alcove where you enjoy breakfast or coffee.

Mixing and Matching with Other Furniture

As you narrow down your choices, consider the other furnishings in your home and how they'll coordinate with your new dining or kitchen tables. It can be beautiful when everything matches exactly, but mixing and complementing provides a natural, at-home style, too.

• Buffets and sideboards look good when they're a similar finish to your dining table and chairs or benches. Tie the pieces together with centerpiece accents.
• Bars, stools and bar carts can help create a full-service dining area when you have a bistro-style table or a wide-open floor plan with lots of room for multiple furnished areas. Bring in metal accents for style and balance.
• Select a large rug to help an expansive space feel more initiate or to bridge an open dining area with a nearby living room or den set-up.

Once you've discovered how transformative a new dining table is, you're bound to start making beautiful changes around it.