Furniture that’s practical as well as beautiful can help ease the strain of staying at home while pandemic restrictions are in force. Extending dining tables are ideal if you’re looking for flexible space – to work, rest, play and eat –  and are an investment for better times when you can accommodate double the ‘rule of six’ without fear of contagion...
 
The dining table is the social hub of the home: it’s where families routinely converge for (usually) home-cooked meals and (not-always) polite conversation and friends and relatives gather for similar fare, potentially with a soupçon of refinement.
 
Since lockdown, of course, the dining table has become even more essential to everyday family life, serving not only as a place to share meals but also as a desk for home-working and home schooling, an arts and creative space, games table and more…
 
No wonder sales of dining tables have boomed during the pandemic, mainly fuelled by the need for larger tables to cater for all these different uses, as well as to provide more social distancing space between seats for visiting households.
 
Online luxury furniture retailer La Residence Interiors, which specialises in high-quality weathered oak dining tables, has seen a huge rise in demand, particularly for its super-flexible Brunswick extending dining table, which can be used as a compact round table seating only four and extended right up to a full banqueting length of 3.5 metres, seating up to 12.
 
Now La Residence Interiors has designed two more extending rectangular dining tables to complement its collection.
 
“We’ve just taken delivery of our new Warwick and Sherborne extending weathered oak tables, both of which are a hefty 2 metres long without their extension leaves, and a humungous 3 metres long once the leaves are added,” explained co-founder of LRI, Sarah Cook.
 
“Until now, our Montague dining table has been the largest rectangular table in the collection – at 240cm long – while the larger version of the Belvedere comes in at 220cm. Both are a good size and seat up to 10 people, but we’ve had many requests from customers for even larger tables, and especially extendable ones because they provide so much flexibility,” says co-founder of LRI, Sarah Cook.
 
“With the extension leaves, the new tables can comfortably seat 12 – perfect for a celebratory gathering, which we hope we can look forward to again at some point.”
 
The best dining tables serve as a stylish backdrop for all types of get-togethers, from homework club to a smart dinner party to informal work space. They also say a lot about you, your sense of style and the kind of atmosphere you want to create in your home, so if you’re considering a new purchase, it’s worth bearing a few points in mind.
 
How much should you spend?
Substance is just as important as style and dining tables are an investment that should be built to last, so high-quality materials are a great starting point. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to pay premium prices for a quality product.
 
“At La Residence Interiors, we pride ourselves on crafting solid weathered oak tables that will last for years at an affordable price. Our tables aren’t cheap but they’re really well made and represent good value,” explains Sarah.
 
“We use a combination of solid oak with sections of engineered premium white oak, so the tables are heavy but less weighty than they would be if they were entirely solid oak. The table tops have a wire-brushed finish, which brings out the natural grain of the oak beautifully and means that every table is individual,” she adds.
 
What style should you go for?
Wooden, metallic, glass, marble? With so much choice available, it’s important that your dining or kitchen table fits with your décor – and is able to cope with the demands of your individual family.
 
If it’s used purely for entertaining on the odd occasion, for example, it won’t need to be as robust as if it has to host breakfast, lunch, dinner, extra-curricular activities and the cat jumping onto it on a daily basis. Glass or marble tables might look super chic and contemporary but they probably won’t withstand heavy-handed use.
 
The advantage of weathered oak is that it already looks, well, a little bit weathered – in the most attractive and natural way – and that it boasts both a rustic and contemporary charm that makes it extremely versatile when blending in with different styles of décor.
 
What shape should you choose?
The shape of your kitchen or dining table is down to personal taste, but can also be informed by the size of your home and shape of your rooms. A round table is a really sociable style to choose, and works well in smaller spaces. An oval kitchen or dining table is ideal for narrower areas, while a rectangular table is great for larger rooms and open plan kitchens.
 
Which extending table would best suit you?
We now stock three extendable dining tables: the round-to-oval Brunswick seating 4-12 guests, the rectangular Warwick seating up to 12 and the rectangular Sherborne seating up to 12.
 
The Brunswick is the most versatile in terms of size, taking up minimal space as a round 4-seater, with the addition of four leaves taking it to a 6-seater, 8-seater, 10-seater and 12-seater. It’s perfect for those who want a compact table for everyday use but who like to host family and friends on a regular basis. The soft curves of the oval table are ideal for a narrower room or in an interior space where there are lots of squared-off angles, such as in a kitchen-diner with square or rectangular units and kitchen island, as a contrast to the hard edges.
 
The Warwick is an unfussy, monastery-style table with four column-like legs and clean lines. It’s quite understated yet still imposing and would look just as at home in a contemporary setting as in a more traditional one. It is ideal for a large kitchen or in a separate dining room where its slightly more formal look could be appreciated.
 
The Sherborne is inspired by our bestselling Belvedere table and is classic in design. The table top rests upon two large and very impressive pedestals. It marries a slightly rustic farmhouse kitchen feel with an extravagance that comes from the beautifully carved and mitred embellishments to the base. The Sherborne would look imposing in just about any style or size of a room that could accommodate its full 3-metre length.
 
Whatever the circumstances, extendable dining tables are hard to beat for flexibility. So if you’re thinking about hosting family and friends when we are allowed to do so again, or if you just want the option of extra space for work, homework, origami, jigsaw puzzles, board games etc. etc., it could be time to extend.