I love the drawing! I had that unsettling revelation last night, I've been thinking all along about the table size and not considering the fact that the chairs may not tuck all the way under it. If the chairs stick out an additional foot (randomly guessing on the foot), would the 2' left between the chair back and wall be okay? the 72" rectangle left me less space than that, which is why it's gone.

Thank you...It will definitely work. And very good observation on your part. The chairs will stick out 9" approximately with 5 chairs. This is not bad. The 2' would be the minimum space left. You want your idea to look like a work of art sitting in the dining area. I believe you will have this affect.

Here's a pic of my dining room - 60" table with square pedestal base.

Off topic...but what is your paint color, it's lovely

Lori, this is a beautiful room! I have a small 1953 Cape and having been trying to figure out what to do with my dining room - this is perfect! Your molding, your paint color and sconces - they are beautiful. Can you share the paint color and the size of the ceiling crown molding? BTW, I believe in the less is more theory. After reading all comments, the round table, an area rug and a mirror or painting would be be perfect.

Thank you! It is a Lowe's Valspar color recommended to me and mixed in BM Aura paint called Lyndhurst Castle Sand 5008-1C. It turned out to be a very beautiful color up on the walls, I'm very happy with it.

So sorry, I forgot to mention that the trim color is BM White Dove and I'm not sure about the crown size, I'll have to ask my husband if he knows.

Would a buffet work in the bay area?

I have found these diagrams very helpful for our customers when trying to determine seating at a round table. See attached. I this case, I've scaled out a 54" round table and added 6 chairs. The chairs are 18" wide. I've placed the chairs as if people were seated in them, so they are not pushed in as far as they go. If you were to remove one chair (set it in a corner of the room, for instance) you could push 5 in all the way.
Our general rule of thumb is to allow a minimum of 24" of perimeter space per person at the table.
We also tell our clients to allow 36" from the edge of the table to whatever is next, be it a sideboard or a wall. This allows a person to be seated at the table and another to pass behind them comfortably.
I hope this is helpful.

AnAhitA Nazari --That dining room picture was compliments of Jhake9 to show what a 60" table looks like in a room with the same width as mine, my room is completely empty at the moment. Hopefully they will be able to help you find that furniture piece.

Huston & Company --Your post is very helpful and I would love to see the attachments, but I don't see where to open them. Please let me know and thank you for taking the time to do that, I find everyone on Houzz to be such an incredible source of help and information!

Let me try that again. I was a little distracted when I did it last time so it looks as though it didn't attach. Sorry about that. This is a jpeg. I have it in pdf form. Let's see if this works first.

The attachment works perfectly and it brings up another good point to consider... the width of dining chairs around the table. I've been so concerned with the table & chairs in relation to the walls that I didn't give much though to the chairs in relation to each other. Most of the chairs I have been considering are 25" wide. Ugh, that realization is like falling down in the home stretch.

Love these Martine arm chairs that I see all over Houzz, do I need to put that idea to rest because of the 25" width? Amazing that I can seem to find whatever might not work the best.

25" is a wide chair. But, that's a gorgeous chair, especially in the room with the colors you've chosen. Can you find a similar one that has the same style of upholstery, but doesn't have the 'wings'? Restoration Hardware does make the side chair which is 20"W. And ZGallerie's Montecito Tufted Side Chair is pretty awesome, also 20".

Lori, thanks for giving the trim colors along with checking on the molding size. Do you recall whether the mix of the two colors was a 50/50 split? Thanks, Lori

Try this white marble table. http://www.monarchcrafts.co.in/marble-coffee-tables-tops.html

Hi, I see you've gotten a lot of input, and I agree that you have room for what you want. Here is a picture of a room that is actually by my estimation a little smaller than yours; see what you think. I also agree that the masking tape on the floor will be good.

I'm so sorry, my answer to the paint color came out a little backwards... the paint color is 100% Lyndhurst Castle Sand 5008-1C by Valspar. I just happen to love the Benjamin Moore Aura paint so I had our local Benjamin Moore dealer color match the paint sample instead of buying it at Lowes. It's definitely the Lyndhurst Castle Sand without any changes to the color. I have it in my kitchen too, so in both a north-western exposure (the dining room) and a south-eastern exposure, I love it in both areas.

Vacox --That fits really nicely in that room!

That's ok - even better, as my husband is doing the painting for me & prefers painting with Ben Moore

I had a show in very similar space here in Toronto. These fine art prints looked great. If you condidering art in this room I suggest abstracts in white frames.

To answer your original question: 60" round with 6 chairs is doable, if you take out the leaf when not in use, an put 2 of the chairs against the wall when not in use.

I found this discontinued 54" Artistica set with 4 chairs on clearance at a local store, but cannot get any additional chairs for it. If I give up on the idea of a bigger set with 5 or 6 chairs in honor of a closeout price, would it look funny to have a formal dining room with only 4 chairs? Would it magnify the fact that I have a small room?

Lori-I like this set, it looks elegant Do not be afraid to mix chairs; if you got 2 captain's chairs that are similar to this set (maybe check a vintage store), again you could keep them against a wall when not in use. The trend these days is to not necessarily match exactly, which if pulled off makes people think you hired a decorator!

I think this decision depends on what other furniture you have in your room, and how close to the table that furniture is. If you keep things in the proper scale, it should not emphasize the size. Bear in mind, when people gather to eat they just want to be comfortable, be able to move chairs in and out easily, and since some folks are larger than others, having adequate room is key to keeping people at ease. No one wants to be reminded she just ate too much turkey by being unable to get out of her chair for a helping of pie :)

Another option is an elegant banquette against a wall, with an oblong table in front, and chairs around. Then if you want seating for 6, you have it, just be sure you can pull the table out to let guests in and out. A banquette without ends is best and can look very elegant, giving you room for other things, and room to walk.

I've seen pics of people using 3 smaller rectangular tables with 2 chairs at each = seat 6. Plus it gives you a little variety to change it up. Not for everyone, but just a more unique solution some may favor.

Love the idea of a banquette, my neighbor bought one and I saw it today, it was beautiful. Hers was the Schnadig Kensington and it was stunning in her home.

Thank you for all of the suggestions and advice, it was a tremendous help! I bought a 54" round table which fits in my dining room perfectly. I wish the set came with more chairs, 5 would have worked with the table, but I'm happy. Now I need suggestions for drapes and a 8' round area rug!

Looks gorgeous. Well done. I love the rugs at Company C - and they make some great rounds.

Congratulations. I think you made a wise decision. The table and chairs are really gorgeous.

You can now add two non-matching chairs for when you have six diners. They can be stored on the wall with sconces or on each side of a hutch or sideboard. You could write the manufacturer to see if any matching chairs might be in stock at another dealer. Shipping isn't necessarily outrageous. Our friends in Connecticut just found a matching mirror for their new bedroom suite in Pennsylvana this way. The secret is to go to the manufacturer rather than to the dealer.

Choice One: Use two all wood chairs, classic (traditional, Chippendale?) if you wish to go more formal. Try to keep wood tones are closely matched as possible. It would also be nice if the heights were approximately the same.

Choice two: A completely upholstered chair in a compatible fabric. Don't try to exactly match. A creamy colored white leather might be nice or try for a similar color in a different pattern or a even a contrasting color two or three shades darker in the same pattern (could also match wall color).

Choice Three: For a more modern look, two Ghost chairs would not be out of the realm of possibility. Also, two painted chairs could be used as long as they were are classic in style. These two possibilities would not be my first choice.

Our dining room problems:
Our breakfast area is 9.5' x 13.5'. We have a 48" round table with six chairs and a 2' x 4' china hutch, Unless we put a leaf or two in the table (making it an oval table) only four chairs comfortably fit around the table. Getting in and out of the chairs is really close at times. When people are seated, the person on the window side of the table is trapped.

Our formal dining room is 12' x 16' with a built in china closet, a 36" corner hutch, and a 14" x 48" hunt board. The table is 46" x 76" and easily seats six. We have two leaves to expand seating to eight or twelve. Unfortunately, fully expanded, there is only a foot left on each end of the room, so eight to ten is our maximum. We have six Chippendale arms chairs that are left out. We have one Chippendale desk chair and two fabric/wood chairs in the den that aesthetically can be used for eight or nine diners.

The last time we had 16 diners, I hosted 8 in the breakfast room and my wife hosted 8 in the dining room. We then swapped duties for dessert. It made for an interesting and pleasant evening.

You made an excellent choice and the set looks great in your beautiful dining room. I know you will make some wonderful memories around that table.

We have a similar situation-small DR (carriage house in retirement community)-see pics

We added a sideboard-don't think it looks too crowded.

Not sure on the chandelier we put in when we moved in 3 yrs. ago-what do you think?

Also we are thinking of doing the moulding below the chair rail and painting it all white similar to this look above-we haven't started to paint yet-what do yoy think?

I wonder if I can fit a tall, skinnier cabinet in my space...?

Nikkimer555 --Your room looks like you are fortunate enough to have the depth to fit the buffet without crowding, I'm guessing your room is quite a bit longer than mine.

I'd love to add a beautiful cabinet to my room, I may try a tall glass cabinet if I can find one that is not too deep unless that would look like too much. I love these two, but they may be too deep.

It looks like you could add a thin cabinet. Beautiful set.

I really like the picture of the first glass cabinet. If you look for curio cabinets, you may find the narrower depth. Good luck.

It appears that you might have a sideboard on the wall opposite the windows. If so, you might want to put it centered between the sconces and put a great piece of art work on that wall. Then you could put a new china hutch on the wall opposite the windows.

While a hutch would also look good between the sconces, the space cries out for artwork. Of course, whether things fit and whether you like them there will be the ultimate determining factors. I would try it both ways. Unless it seems too crowded, a tea or serving cart might be useful centered in the window alcove. A brass and glass would seem nice and airy.

If you can fit a full 24" deep hutch in the room, that would be my first choice. Otherwise, a 16"-18" deep hutch would work. "Madison Square" makes 18th century style furniture that is apartment sized. Our hunt board is 14" x 48" Chippendale with a matching bench that fits under the hunt board. It was only moderate in price. The quality is in the B+ range compared to the Cadillac companies like Baker. The finish was great but the underside where it doesn't show is a little less refined. It is a good product for the price and fits well with our more expensive table and chairs. I had to get the information and get my local discount furniture friend to order it for me. The 14" depth allowed for more comfortable room for seating. I then found a (not so inexpensive) Century Chippendale fretwork mirror (32"wide x 52" tall) to go over the hunt board. It looks like one unit.

DRAPES: you have a lot of options. I would get the furniture and rugs and live with them awhile. We just removed the drapes from our formal dining room and installed plantation shutters. You may find the blinds are all you need. While they do make curved rods for your windows, I would hate to see them covered up too much. I would do a valence mostly above the windows with a small swag on the outside windows, using muted colors from the carpet or wall paint.

TABLE CENTERPIECE: Your new table was made to have a Williamsburg or Smithsonian China punch bowl. Mottahedeh makes some wonderful commemorative bowls but they are $$$$. I had to settle for a $100 Chinese knockoff (versus $1,000 for the Mottahedeh I really wanted). As my wife reminded me, it wasn't some I really needed, it was something I "wanted."

CHRISTMAS: You have a great room for Christmas with wreaths hanging from the sconces, garlands winding around the two columns, a bright plaid or damask floor length tablecloth on your table, and candlesticks in the windows.

Can you tell that I really like your room?!

Post dates back to August 2013. I imagine that you have completed your project now?

Thank You. The 54'' table is a better choice in my opinion in order to have easier access to the table from any side.

Hi Lori, I love your Artistica table and am thinking of buying one also. After a year, how has the table held up? I have 2 young kids and I envision many nights of homework on this table. It will go in our breakfast nook, so it will be used every single day. Would love to hear your thoughts! thanks!

Hi Emily! We really like the Artistica table! We have not used it on a daily basis, but it seems to be holding up well with my 9 year old daughter plus I have 2 college aged sons who (at times) are just as rough on things as my 9 year old! It seems to be very well made and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. I'd like to use ours for school projects as well, so I may look into how much a glass top would cost to protect it.

i dont think 6 chairs will work... see above. six is a lot for a round table in a small room.

Hi Lori, Thank you for posting the pic of your 54" dining table. The chairs are very stylish and I love what you have done with the decor! Well done.

Lori,

The product result looks great!

I'm having a hard time finding a 60" round table with a leaf. Any ideas?

How much space needed for 60" round dining table and chairs

You absolutely can comfortable seat 6 people around a 60" table. You could squeeze in one or two more even for special occasion. 54" can seat six, as well, with a possibility of squeezing in one more. Not two.

10.10 x 10.10 dinnette. I found a 60-inch table that I really like and the price is superb! My dinette in the picture attached is to the right it has an entrance out to a patio in the corner. So the door will not be much in the way. I have drawn out the floor plan and the 60 inch table seems to fit but would appreciate your opinions.

No it would look odd not to have a hitch. Allot of modern sets come with glass cabinets only or both.

Hi Lori. I know this post is quite old, but what is the paint color in your dining room? It's beautiful.

It is Valspar 5008-1C Lyndhurst Castle Sand. We've since sold that house, but when we lived there I had a lot of compliments on that color!

I should have mentioned in case it didn't show up in the pictures, the Lyndhurst Castle Sand was a green-gray.