Luxury Dining Room Furniture Buying Guide

A formal dining room is one which is used for special dinners, celebratory meals and fine dining. It will undoubtedly feature a matching table and chair set (usually in luxury materials such as beautiful hardwoods and refined upholstery), crisp, pressed linens and a full dinner service complete with serving dishes and a silverware service. This type of dining room will feature pieces which assist in the dining and entertaining process like a buffet or sideboard, a china cabinet and a striking centrepiece.

An informal dining room is a much more relaxed space. In fact, it may not even be a separate room, rather a designated area in an open plan kitchen or conservatory. Informal dining areas are particularly great for everyday use. Furniture needn’t adhere to convention – banquettes and benches work particularly well – and, considering the usual proximity to the kitchen, there is less of a need for storage space. A full dinner service is often replaced by tableware basics.

There are, however, tricks to creating a space which is flexible and suitable for both informal and formal occasions. Says interior designer April Russell, “To dress a dining room up or down comes down to dressing the table. You can go elaborate for formal occasions and simplify for everyday dining. I love to decorate a table with lovely tablecloths and linen napkins, flowers, candles, silver, pretty tableware, crystal and place cards for very formal occasions. For less formal occasions, choose a simpler dinner/lunch service and perhaps fun, coloured glasses. Replace silver with perhaps something seasonal [and] choose fun place mats.”

Once you’ve decided on a formal or informal space, it’s time to think about the look you want to achieve. There are many styles to choose from but a few popular ones are:

Characterised by grand wooden furniture and comprising of a full dining suite (think matching table and chairs, breakfront china cabinets and sideboards) in rich woods. Accent with a crystal or wrought iron chandelier or wall sconces.

A rustic but pretty style comprised of bleached, aged or painted white woods, predominantly neutral and pastel colour palettes and organic materials like wicker or rattan. Wooden ladder-back chairs and benches are common which are often enhanced by removable seat pads for comfort.

This style makes a statement with elaborately carved woodwork, sumptuous upholstery like brocades and damasks, statement chandeliers and gilded tableware. Styles like Rococo, Gothic and all the Louis eras are considered decorative.

This is the typical hotel look with crisp cotton table linens, flawless cutlery and timeless silhouettes. White is a colour of choice for linens and tableware for its ability to make everything look absolutely perfect. A haute cuisine menu is the only thing to offer with this style.

Here is where forward-thinking design comes into its own. Whether it’s barely-there glass dining tables, boundary-breaking sculptural elements or gravity-defying chairs, the look is cool but brilliantly considered. Iconic designs are also a mainstay and, in regards to colour, both purist tones and vibrant brights are used with equal effectiveness.

See our edit of 10 Luxury Dining Room Styles for more inspiration on finding your dining room style.

Like all furniture, dining tables come available in a variety of materials which is often determined by silhouette and style. Some of the most popular materials for luxury dining furniture are:

Still the most popular material option, wood is hard wearing, versatile and rich in both aesthetic and colour. It can be as simple or as decorative as you’d like depending on the grain and finishes (from distressed to high gloss) used. Options of carving, inlay and marquetry add interest too.

A veneer is thin slice of wood which is fixed to a solid panel to be used in the construction of a piece of furniture. Not only are veneers flexible and durable, they’re also available in just about any wood finish including exotic and rare woods.

A thoroughly modern choice, glass is great for a sleek aesthetic and works well in rooms which are too small to house a wooden design which is visually more dense. Tempered glass should be used for furniture for added strength.

Metal is most often used for dining table bases, especially for sleek, stylish designs. The material can be glossy, brushed, hammered or powder-coated. can be teamed with wood, marble or glass tops to produce different looks.

Parchment is a super-fine animal skin covering (usually goatskin) which is applied to wooden panels using a specialist and very traditional craftsman technique. The parchment is usually polished to a high shine which gives the appearance of a glossy varnish.

This is another traditional material which can be incredibly modern in certain settings. Often it is just used for the tabletop and paired with wood or metal bases although some full marble tables are available. Due to the weight of this material, it is always wise to always check flooring requirements.

Not only should your materials be of the finest quality, but the workmanship should be too. Things to look out for here are marquetry or inlay techniques, precision wood matching and examples of fine joinery like corner blocks, dovetail and mortise and tenon joints. It almost goes without saying that finishes should be flawless (unless specified as a distressed or aged finish) and joins should be seamless.

Understanding the appropriate dining table measurements for your room can make a big difference to the dining experience of both you and your guests. If a table is too small, guests will be cramped and dining will be negatively affected; if it’s too big, conversation will be difficult and there won’t be a feeling of intimacy.

To get an idea of the footprint of your dining table, we’d suggest making a 2D mock up out of paper and lay it on the floor where the dining table will be situated. The general rule is to allow 60 centimetres per diner (70 centimetres for carver chairs) but for more specific suggested dimensions, follow this table as a guide:

Dining room chairs benefit from being durable due to their heavy use and their proximity to cooked foods. Whatever fabric you choose, it’s paramount to choose a specialist upholstery fabric which has a good Martindale rub test – this is a test designed to test the durability of the material and will ensure that your chairs will age well.
Padding, foam, webbing and strapping are all signs that a chair is of a luxury quality. These will offer the most comfortable seat as well as maintaining the shape of the chair well throughout the years.

Although dining chairs can be made from any solid wood, beech legs are almost the universal choice for wooden chairs because of their strength and durability.

Like dining tables, there are a few rules of thumb for dining chair measurements:

A minimum depth measurement for dining chairs is 45 centimetres and seat height is 46 centimetres. The width of a dining chair will differ between styles and especially between carvers or standard designs.

Allow at least 80 centimetres between the back of a pulled out chair and the wall or sideboard to allow for easy passage and safe serving.