Six Chair Dining Table Set Size

At James+James, we build a lot of solid wood dining and kitchen tables each year in all shapes and sizes. Yet nothing beats the popularity of a 6 person table, especially for a kitchen table area, smaller dining rooms, and breakfast nooks. "What length table for 6 people?" "How long does a table need to be to fit 6?" are very common questions for our team.

6' L x 37" W Turnbuckle Table in Dark Walnut stain with a jointed top.

For Rectangular Tables: Most people find that a 6 foot long (72 inch) dining table is perfect for seating 6 comfortably.

For Square Tables: You'd be surprised how often we get asked for a square table that seats 6, but 6 isn't really divisible by 4 sides...We typically reccomend a 46" x 46" table for seating 4 and a 55" x 55" square or 66" x 66" for seating 8 (which I suppose could seat 6, if you symmetry isn't your thing ;).

For Round Tables: Most of our customers find that 54" to 60" round tables are pefect for seating 6.

54" Round Pedestal Table with Henry Chairs.

No matter the shape you're going with, here are a few more things to consider when sizing your perfect dining table:

1. Your Chair Width

Most side dining chairs range from 16" wide to 24" wide. Arm chairs can easily reach 30" wide. If you're going with a narrower chair, you'll be able to sit more along the side of the smaller table, but if your chairs are larger, you might need to bump up your table length.

2. Your Table Base Style

If you need to maximize seating, you might consider a trestle or pedestal style table - those styles will allow you to seat guests along the entire length of the table. Compare that to a corner leg table, where you have to fit all the chairs between the legs of the table and you can see the advantage in certain circumstances. For chairs on the ends of the table, make sure the trestle is inset at least 13" or that the corner legs are wide enough apart to seat someone comfortably.

Pictured above is a 6' long x 37" wide table with six 17" wide chairs and corner legs.

With the corner legs replaced by a trestle/pedestal style table, the table can now seat 8 total (albeit very tightly with very narrow chairs).

3. Your Room's Size

You don't want to overcrowd your room. One great tip that helps hundreds of our customers each year: Use painters tape to draw a table on the floor. This will realy help you visialize the new table in your space. Try to keep at least 3' of clearance from all walls for comfort. Then simply take a tape measure and measure what you drew on the ground with painter's tape. Since we build tables to custom sizes, if that happens to 6.75', perfect! That's what we'll build your table at.

Bonus: Consider A Bench

A bench down one side of the table might be a good option to consider, especially with children. When needed, you can pack several kids (and their friends, cousins etc.) on a bench - but with chairs it's pretty much just 1 per seat. A bench can also be tucked away under the table to free up room outside of meal time AND depending on the length of you table, one bench might come at a cost savings over several chairs.

6' L x 37" W Country French Turned Leg Table pictured with a matching Dianne Bench.

Still have questions? Our team would love to help. Just shoot your questions to designteam@carpenterjames.com and one of our design consultants will get back to you quickily. Give us a call at479-633-7557 or leave us a comment below!

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