Dining Room Layout: The Most Ideal Measurements

Not having the ideal measurements for your dining room layout can create an awkward and uncomfortable space.

To provide a relaxing, functional room it helps to understand the dimensions needed to create an enjoyable dining experience for your family and friends. The ideal measurements for your dining room layout combine the minimum clearances and space needed for dining as well as choosing dining room furniture that fits within the shape and size of your room.

Ideal Measurements for Dining Room Layout

Place Setting Clearances

The first step to finding the ideal measurements for a dining room layout begins with the minimum clearances required for each place setting or person at the table. Each place setting needs to have at least 24 inches, which gives enough elbow room, depth when seated and 20 inches of leg room underneath the table. For each person seated at the end of the table, allow at least 12 to 14 inches overhang to accommodate the table legs.

Serving and Dining Space

Take into account the minimum space and clearances needed for people serving and dining. There needs to be at least 36 inches from the edge of the table to the wall or furnishings to allow enough room for getting into and out of the chair. But after the meal is over when meal-digesting tabletop conversations ensue, 44 inches from the table’s edge to the wall gives diners a chance to push their chairs back and relax while they enjoy the conversation.

Buffets and Hutches

Dining rooms need direct access to the kitchen and buffet surfaces for the ease in serving, cleaning, food placement, convenience and safety. Include these measurements in your layout to help find the ideal dining room layout. Dining rooms located near or adjacent to kitchens should have at least 36-inch entryways between them to serve food and clean up. Surfaces to put food, dishes and utensils on — buffets, hutches or cabinets — require dimensional consideration too; most of these items measure 24 inches deep, 32 to 48 inches long and about 27 to 30 inches high.

The Table in the Room

Let the dimension and contour of your dining room layout determine the shape and size of your table. Rectangular dining tables fill up long, narrow dining rooms, while round tables offer additional space needed in small, square rooms. Choosing the correct size rectangular table to meet the room’s dimensions starts with measuring the length and width of the table and adding at least 36 inches, if not 44 inches to each of those measurements to see how well it fits in the room.

Round Dining Tables

Round dining tables offer space-saving features because of the lack of square corners. But they also need more room for each diner because of the pie-wedge effect in round tables that narrows toward the center of the table. Allow at least 26 to 32 inches for each diner. To calculate the perimeter needed for the number of people at the table, multiply the diameter of the table by pi. For example, a 48-inch diameter round table multiplied by 3.14159 equates to roughly 151 inches. Divide that number by the number of diners to determine if the table offers the seating requirements. A round table this size allows about 30 inches per setting for five diners. In a 10-by-10 foot dining area, for example, a 48-inch dining table with 36-inch seating clearance easily accommodates a buffet, a china hutch or both with space left over.

Dining Room Layout

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