You need 24" per side for people seated in chairs plus any walk around room you want with seated persons. so you would have 48" minimum plus the width of the table itself. I have been looking for similiar sized tables and have found several in the 42x60 range nice Cherry ones, I find the 36 is WAY to narrow. I have found a few 38" which are a bit better but 42 seems about right.

Thanks so much for the reply. I'm not sure what you mean about needing 24 inches per person etc. (I'm sorry, I can be so dense!)

I thought the 36 inch table seemed rather narrow also, but there sure seem to be a lot of them out there, so I figure they must work well.

I didn't see any 38 inch wide tables.

I wish this weren't so difficult for me to visualize! Those of you who don't find this sort of thing totally intimidating should be thankful! :)

Thanks again for any help you can offer. :)

Here is our table. It is 39 inches wide x 60 long, plus there are two leaves that pull out and pop up if needed. Ours is more of a county look and you said you were not looking for that, however ours is made by emeraldhome.com, you can search their dining sets and see if they have one you like. This particular table is called "Dakota"

{{!gwi}}

Oh, that's lovely, customdecorator. Thanks for posting the pic. Looks like you have a nice wide open space for your table.

I could so easily be persuaded to decorate in a country style, but the rest of my family doesn't agree....

I'll check out that company's website.

To help you visualize and make a decision, you could find a way to mark out the size of the table you ordered. Either cut some old cardboard and put in the place of where the table will go, put it on some saw horses or something else to make it three dimensional. At the very least, outline the shape and size of the table masking tape on the floor.

I am dealing with a similar challenge and selling my 38" wide table. We are just going to have to deal with the 36" one. (The length of my current table is waaay too long too, so I really need to downsize.) For me, the way a space feels and how traffic flows (or doesn't) around the table is just as important as the functional size of the eating platform.

The other thing I am doing is going with a "boat shaped" top. It cuts a few more inches off the corners and smooths the flow a bit too, IMO. Here's a pic...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

I have good news! The store is letting me bring the table home to try it out! I never dreamed they would allow that. I guess you never know til you ask.

Thanks for the input. I had tried the marking it with masking tape, but still couldn't visualize how it would actaully look with the "weight" of the table and chairs and all.