What should I look for when buying an extending dining table?

At first, dining room tables had a large room all to their own. In the Middle Ages, this room was very large and imposing, until the Black Death came to call. Then, dining tables became smaller and migrated to the parlour. Extending tables offer the best of both worlds in that they could be both large and small. When looking for an extending table today, there are a few details to keep in mind.

Décor

The décor should be one of the first influences on your choice of extending dining room tables. The style of the table should fit in with the rest of the room. This is important since, even when not fully extended, the table is a large item. Having something which blends in rather than draw attention to itself would be best. There are plenty of wood choices to choose from, such as oak - which is very traditional - to mahogany to teak and even walnut and maple. These hardwoods have beautiful grains which can add style and elegance to any room. If you buy an oak dining set with table and chairs, the chair should fit in with the décor as well.

Style of extension

There is more than one methods of having an extending table extend. One common way is to have the table consist of rails that slide together or apart, rather like the telescope as it collapses upon itself when you close it, or extends to full length when you wish to look through it. As you pull the table rails apart, you can place leaves on top of the rails to create a larger tabletop which, after a tablecloth is applied, looks like one continuous piece of wood. Another method is to have two leaves which constantly live beneath the ends of the table that spring out when they are called into service. These tables can be more modern and have the disadvantage that in order to support the hidden leaves, the bottom of the table must be lower and can touch a tall sitter's legs when that person sits at the table.

The chairs

The other things to consider are firstly, how many chairs will you need and secondly, where will you keep them. If you buy an extending table that extend to accommodate 12 people, you will need to have twelve matching chairs for the table. Once you have these chairs, you will need to figure out where to store them. Traditionally, this was either at the table or along the wall of the dining room, but if you don't have much space, then you will need to come up with an alternative.