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1. My table is an extending table.
   At the minimum it is more or less rectangular (0.62 X 1.18 m) with a half moon folded on each end. When unfolded it is a circular table (diameter 1.18 m).
   Three 0.40 m extensions can be added making it 2.40 m long with the Half moons at each end.
   It uses wooden rails with sliding dovetails. There are two additional feet in the middle which can be removed easily.

   1. Looks like really handy piece of furniture!

2. I won’t give you all that personal information. I made my dining room table from solid cherry. It has 3 leaves so will extend to seat 10. The sides & ends are slightly rounded so people can see each other better. I also made a “hunt board,” (small buffet with doors and drawers to store silverware & place settings) from cherry with maple panels, and two end tables for it, also solid cherry. Did not make the chairs. Also made a long charcuterie board of walnut & maple to run down the center for those kinds of meals.

   1. Doug and Paul,
      We also have a home-made hunt board in cherry for our dining room. Useful when setting tables ( has silverware etc) and serving guests. Platters and deserts can be stored nearby. (Not sure how to add photo here, though) Nick

3. Dear Katrina,

   what a laudable idea, but in my view the scope of the questionaire is a bit narrow. I believe many of us would like to make furniture to others, friends or (younger) relatives. So the question then becomes what do young people need/want, not how my dining room is used.

   When I was a student and young adult, I really wanted some good quality, but not to heavy, furniture. From those days, a pair of dinning room chairs in oak remains. I would have liked to have had some smaller pieces of furniture, a small bookcase, side-table, trays, of good quality, that could have followed me around, and been really mine. I am now 55, over the last 20 years I have steadily assembled fairly decent quality furniture to my home, and the dining room is full.

   You have probably thought about this, as one is to give the age in the survey. In my view, the very best time to start to assemble/make real quality furniture is when a young couple establishes themselves. An then there are usually constraints on space, on money, and on time.

   Whatever the outcome of the survey I really look forward to whatever furniture I will see in Sellers Home!

   1. Baard,
      I think that is an excellent perspective to come from in designing furniture for a dining room. Younger people tend to move often especially when they are still renting.

4. I would REALLY like to see an extendable table made!
   Regards,
   Matt

   1. I would, as well. Our table can be extended by adding 2 leafs turning a table for 6 into a table for 8 to 10.

   2. Mee too! We had our dining table made a few years ago. It is huge (1×2.4m), which really can be impractical in a not so big room. There’s only one place to put it, so we can never change the arrangement a bit. Were I to buy or build a new table, I would absolutely want it to be extendable. Our neighbours have a lovely antique piece, round with a ~1m diameter and extendable to an oval for at least 12 persons. That would be great to have!
      And it should be rather lightweight, but still stable.

5. Thanks Baard. It will be interesting to see if younger people use their dining rooms differently and have different furniture in their dining rooms to older people. Time spent in this area is also interesting.

   1. my dining room is danish. The table can be modified from a 6′ to 8′ diameter round table. the extension just folds away under the rest of the table. I have a buffet that is about 6′ long. The wood is dark brown but I’m not sure which type of wood. the furniture is all solid wood.

6. We eat in the kitchen. The dinning room table is rarely used. Maybe 4 times a year. The dining room table is a good place to pile stuff to put away later

   1. Me too!

      1. Me Three

   2. Four here, I’m afraid.

7. I am currently building my residence. The dining room is planned to seat 10-12 people, I am building the table and chairs myself, (having made furniture since I was 16) Now almost 50 years later, I am also working on furnishing the house that I am building. The style of the house is Craftsman, and the furniture is a blend of craftsman and mission. I truly appreciate Paul’s knowledge and passion. It reminds me of my own father, who was an industrial arts instructor.

8. My dining room table is mid-19th century. It is walnut and collapses to about 2 feet wide; it has half-round wings which lift and are held by iron swing out braces. It has 4 leaves, 15″ wide each, and when they are in place it seats 12 comfortably; I have had as many as 16 around it. It started as my great, great grandmother’s kitchen table.

9. We retired to Oaxaca, Mexico a couple of years ago from the USA. We designed and built our home here to take advantage of indoor/outdoor living spaces since the climate is a tropical mountain environment. The dining room includes floor to ceiling doors on two sides. This arrangement allowed us to include a built-in gas grill with ventilation through the ceiling. We use this space for entertainment. I built a 4’x8′ table and 8 chairs. All are rustic pine with a Mexican contemporary style.

   1. Correction. The table is 42″ x 8′. It seats 8 comfortably.

10. Hi Katrina,

    We have my parents dining room table,chairs,buffet(side table) and the China cabinet. They are all solid maple. The dining room table is round but each side can fold down about 8 inches so it can be square. In this shape it can fit 4 people. With extensions out it can seat 6. The centre of the table can slide apart and put in 2 leaves which are about 12 inches wide and can seat 10-12 people. I am the youngest of 4 kids and I am 52 years old. This table has seen a lot of good home made food and good friends and conversations through the years.

    Good luck, I look forward to Paul’s design.

11. All cherry, Kentucky antiques, 1840 and earlier. Buffet is actually a longer sugar chest at about 4 feet by two feet with a bottom drawer. Smallish china cabinet actually found by parents in chicken coop, rebuilt and refinished by my father. Also has a smaller oval Victorian two level rosewood table from my grandmother. No where else to put it! Dining table has two leaves. Some boards are two foot wide.

12. Our dining table is rectangular and extends to seat 12 comfortably. We purchased our dining table and matching cabinets in Liege, Belgium, in 1977; it features cabinets with woodcut reproductions from one of the Breughel artists. It survived the trip from Liege to San Antonio, Texas and was often filled with family and friends who tasted some of the finest German cooking at the house on Vanderbilt Street.

13. I have 2 tables…. One long for 8 pers. and one square for 4 people… same height same material….they can be put together( for big family or separated….. one to eat on the other as workdeskt….

14. Our dining room is a part of our kitchen and living room. When we bought the old family home we took down the walls to make a very open concept home. Our dining table expands to sit the many or contracts for the few (mostly it is expanded as there is always someone or 10 breaking bread with us). No kiddies table….everyone at the same table. For the large groups we have to sit the left handers strategically because elbow room gets a wee bit tight, but isn’t that all part of the charm. We’ve sat as many as 22 with a high chair tucked in as well. The table has been with us for near 40 years, and meals, laughs and tears have been shared around it since it came through our door. When I think of a dining room, I only see the table, the center piece of our family.

15. My dining rooms is used for many things .. except eating. The room is filled with my very early home made furniture, all made from a large American Elm the power company cut down on my property (which, after I decided to have the large trunk sections they left behind milled, started my wood working hobby). I have a large rectangular table top, book shelves, storage cubbies (similar to Ikea wall units), a bench seat, several rectangular 4 leg stools and shelves on the wall to hold photos. Most everything came from the same tree.

16. We have lived in homes with a separate dining room, kitchen, and living room, some with a kitchen open to the dining area but with a separate living room, . Although each of these have their benefits our current home (which we designed and had built for us 11 years ago), has an open kitchen with an island open to the dining and living room areas. One of my wife’s complaints with the previous house designs was she felt that often when finishing up the meal prep etc., she was isolated from our guests. With all three areas open to each other she can interact with our guests regardless of where they may be seated and can easily ensure all guests are comfortable and can interact with them. We have a separate den which houses a large TV (in case there is something special on that someone wants to see), and a separate 4 season room that we can move to after dinner with guests. )Because we have the good fortune to live in the country on 50 acres, this room is particularly enjoyed by our guests with windows on 3 walls that allows them to watch the birds and wildlife outside all year round. – Truly one of the best features we included in our new home.

17. I would also like to see a retangular extendable table. Cheers.

18. My wife and I live in a small cabin. We have our meals at a high top table I made from Pine. The living space is basically a living/kitchen/dining combination. This table separates the living room from the rest. We rarely use the standard kitchen table unless we are playing board games. Our whole house is very informal with a vaulted ceiling.

19. My dining room mainly accommodated the washing/ironing pile on an 8 seater extendable mass produced rectangular veneered table n chairs only used at Christmas n birthdays. However since I made a new top for (and painted the rest of..) the chipped veneer sideboard and installed a pair of Paul’s floor lamp design we’ve been using it a bit more frequently. I do intend to add some sort of serving cabinet/buffet thingy at some point but I’m thinking first about a solution for a wine rack/drinks cabinet combo somethingorother.
    I had been thinking of making a new extendable dining table but I got a crazy idea that I’d like it to extend by inserting a 3rd piece which also functioned as a free standing side table when not in use ….but I’ve struggled with a design so that stalled.

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