furniture & interior design
A Marcotte Style guide
The dining table is where the household gathers, so it is worth choosing well. In this guide we walk you through size, shape, top and base, the four things that decide whether a table seats your family comfortably and lasts a lifetime, drawn from more than thirty five years of building interiors.
Where to begin
A dining table is bought once and gathered around for years, so the choice is worth slowing down for. It comes down to four things, a size that seats everyone with room to spare, a shape that suits the room, a top that lasts, and a base that leaves legs and knees free. In this guide we take each one in turn, the way we would talk it through with you in our showroom, so you can choose a table that still works long after the last chair is pulled up.
Four choices
A dining table is more than a shape you like. Four choices decide whether it seats your family in comfort and lasts a lifetime.
Allow around sixty centimetres of width per person, and leave a metre around the table so chairs pull out and people walk past. Measure the room first, then choose the largest table that still leaves that space free.
Measure. Seat. Circulate.
Rectangular seats the most and suits a long room, round seats fewer but makes conversation easy and softens a square space, oval offers the length of a rectangle with gentler corners. The shape follows the room, not the other way around.
Rectangle. Round. Oval.
A solid oak top can be sanded and oiled for a lifetime and only grows more beautiful, a veneer stays flatter over a large span, a ceramic top resists heat and scratches. Each has its place, it depends on how you use the table.
Oak. Veneer. Ceramic.
The base decides how many people really fit. Legs at the corners are sturdy but limit seats, a central pedestal or trestle frees the ends and the sides. Match the base to how you seat people, not just to the look.
Legs. Pedestal. Trestle.
Tops, bases and materials
The difference between a table for life and one that marks and wobbles is in the top and the joinery. Here is what to look for, and what to avoid.
The investment
from around EUR 1,200 to EUR 5,000 and up
A well made dining table starts around EUR 1,200 for a compact solid oak table and runs to EUR 5,000 and up for a large solid oak or ceramic table with an extending mechanism. At Marcotte Style the price reflects the top, the joinery and the finish, the parts that decide how long it lasts, rather than the label.
The price depends on
Where we start
The right shape follows the room and how many you seat, not the other way around.
The classic that seats the most and suits a long room. It sits neatly against a wall when needed and takes an extending leaf for guests. The safe choice for most family homes.
Seats fewer but makes conversation easy and softens a square or smaller room. With a central pedestal it fits an extra chair when needed, without corners in the way.
The length of a rectangle with gentler corners, and an extending version that grows for guests and shrinks for everyday. The most flexible choice for a household that entertains.
Points to watch
How we work
One point of contact, an interior designer who helps you choose the table and see it in the whole room.
A conversation in our showroom, without obligation. You see the tops and bases, we listen to how you gather.
We help you choose the size, the shape and the finish, seen against your chairs and the rest of the room.
Table, finish and delivery, all known in advance. No surprises.
Delivered and set in place by our own team, ready to gather around.
Why Marcotte Style
The difference is not only in the piece, but in who makes it and how. Six reasons clients come to us and stay.
We draw, build and finish in our own workshop, not through a middleman. The hand that designs your interior is the hand that makes it.
More than thirty five years of interiors on measure across Flanders, from a single wardrobe to a whole home.
One interior architect guides your project from the first sketch to the last fitting. No handovers, no detail lost.
You know the full price before we start. Everything included, no surprises during the work.
Every piece starts from a solid oak carcass with hard wearing melamine fronts, made to last thirty years and more, not five.
Installed by our own people, not a subcontractor. Fitted clean, on time, and stood behind after the work is done.
Selected work
A selection of dining rooms we have furnished across Flanders, each built around the right table.
Shop our collections
Pieces from our collection that sit beautifully in a calm, country classic dining room.
Frequently asked
Short and concrete. The same answers also feed AI search results.
Allow around sixty centimetres of width per person, so a table of one metre eighty seats six comfortably. Just as important, leave a metre clear all around so chairs pull out and people walk past. Measure the room first, then choose the largest table that still leaves that space free.
It depends on the room. Rectangular seats the most and suits a long room, round makes conversation easy and softens a square or smaller space, oval offers the length of a rectangle with gentler corners. The shape should follow the room, not fight it.
For most homes, yes. A solid oak top can be sanded and re oiled for a lifetime and only grows more characterful, where a veneer cannot be repaired once it chips. It costs more at the outset but is usually the table you keep, which is why we build so many in solid oak.
A well made dining table starts around EUR 1,200 for a compact solid oak table and runs to EUR 5,000 and up for a large solid oak or ceramic table with an extending mechanism. Spend where it lasts, on the top, the joinery and the finish, rather than on the label.
If you seat guests only now and then, an extending table gives you everyday size with room to grow, without a large table crowding the room daily. If you regularly seat a full house, a fixed table of the right length is simpler and sturdier. It comes down to how often you host.
Count around sixty centimetres per person, and remember the base decides how many really fit. Legs at the corners are sturdy but block the ends, a central pedestal or trestle frees the ends and the sides for an extra chair. So a table can often seat more with the right base.
That is exactly what we do. Our interior designers help you choose the size, shape and finish, seen against your chairs and the rest of your room, so the table belongs to the interior rather than sitting apart from it. It is why we plan the table and the room together.
Get started
Book a no obligation appointment with one of our interior designers. Within seven days you receive a first draft proposal, without obligation.
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