Vintage Dining Tables & Chairs

The dining room is the only room organised around a single object. Choose the table correctly and the rest falls into place; choose it ten centimetres too large and every dinner will be slightly awkward without anyone understanding why.

The table is chosen by the clearance, not by the room

Most often people choose the largest table that fits, rather than the largest table you can walk around. Leave at least 90-100 cm between the edge of the table and the wall or the furniture behind it: that is what someone needs to push a chair back and stand. On the side that leads to the kitchen, raise it to 120 cm. For sizing, allow 60 cm of width per person: a round table of 130 cm seats six, and a rectangular one of 160×90 cm also seats six.

Sideboards and vitrines do different work

The sideboard is the low piece with solid doors, for what you would rather not see: spare tableware, linens, bottles. The vitrine, with glass doors, is a display piece for the porcelain service or the crystal. Many vintage pieces combine both — a closed lower body with a glazed top — and that is the best compromise in an ordinary dining room. A sideboard stands at 80-95 cm, worktop height, so you can serve from it; full vitrines rise to 180-220 cm and want 8-10 cm clear to the ceiling.

The chairs do not have to match

A set of eight perfectly identical chairs is a recent convention and, in vintage furniture, almost impossible to find. The rule that does work is simple: the same timber or the same seat height, but different backs; or two character chairs at the ends and six plain ones along the sides. What genuinely matters is the height: a seat at 45-47 cm for a 74-76 cm table, a difference of 27-30 cm. A beautiful chair two centimetres too tall is felt at every meal.