Round Dining Table Size: How Big for 4, 6 or 8 People?

How many people can sit at a 120 cm round table?

Four with plenty of room, and six if you sit a little closer. A table of Ø120 cm has an edge of 377 cm. With four people that is 94 cm each, enough for serving dishes in the middle. With six it is 63 cm each, just over the 60 cm rule of thumb.

Whether six feels tight depends more on the chairs than on the table. Dining chairs without armrests are usually 45 to 50 cm wide, and six of them fit. Armchairs are often 55 to 60 cm wide, and then five is the more honest number. Look at the legs too. On a table with four legs, four chairs sit naturally between them. With six, two places end up closer to a leg, so set the chairs out before you decide.

A table of Ø110 cm has an edge of 346 cm. That is very comfortable for four (86 cm each), and a fifth chair can squeeze in for a birthday. For six regular places it is too small. Our own round dining table, Bjørk, comes in exactly these two sizes, so the choice is really about whether you are four or sometimes six.

How big should a round dining table be for 4, 6 or 8 people?

For four people choose 110 to 120 cm, for six 120 to 140 cm, and for eight 150 to 160 cm. The table below also shows how big the room needs to be, measured from wall to wall or to the nearest piece of furniture, with the minimum 75 cm and the more comfortable 100 cm of clear floor on every side.

The seat counts assume 60 cm per person and chairs without armrests. If you are between two sizes, count how often you are actually the larger number. A table sized for the one Christmas a year where you are eight sits half empty the other 364 days.

Ø110 or Ø120 cm

Bjørk: round dining table in eight colours

A through-coloured Valchromat® top on four tapered legs in FSC®-certified birch plywood. 72 cm high, made to order in Copenhagen.

From €1,199 See the round dining table →

How much space do you need around a round dining table?

At least 75 cm from the table edge to the wall or the nearest piece of furniture. That is what it takes to pull a chair out and sit down. If people need to walk behind someone who is seated, allow 90 to 100 cm. Double the clearance and add the diameter: a Ø120 cm table needs a room of at least 270 cm.

A round table has one advantage here: no corners. You can pass it on the diagonal, and nobody catches a hip on the way to the kitchen. That is why it often fits where a rectangular table would be just too much, in a kitchen-diner or the corner of a living room.

A quick way to test it at home: mark the diameter on the floor as a cross in masking tape and set your chairs out around it. Pull one chair all the way back and see whether you can still get past. It takes five minutes and tells you more than any drawing. If you hang a pendant above the table, centre it and let it hang about 60 cm above the top, so it lights the table without blocking the view across it.

Which takes up more space, a round or a square table?

A square table takes up more. A round top of Ø120 cm is 1.13 m², while a square table of 120 × 120 cm is 1.44 m², about a quarter more, and both seat four to six. But a round table needs clearance all the way round, so it suits a square room best.

In a long, narrow room a rectangular table is often the better fit. It can be pushed against a wall and takes a bench along one side. In a square room, a kitchen-diner or a bay window, the round table wins. It also changes the conversation: everyone can see everyone, and nobody ends up at the far end.

How big does a round table need to be for 12 people?

About Ø230 cm, if everyone gets 60 cm (12 × 60 cm is 720 cm of edge). That is rarely a good idea at home. The room needs to be at least 380 cm in each direction, and nobody can reach the dishes in the middle. For twelve, a long table or two tables pushed together works better.

Can a coloured dining table handle everyday life?

Yes, as long as the colour is in the material and not only on the surface. On a painted table, a scratch goes through to a pale layer underneath. Bjørk's top is through-coloured Valchromat®, so a scratch shows the same colour below. That makes the table sturdy in everyday use, and it also means the top can be repaired if something goes wrong.

The surface is finished with Rubio Monocoat®, a plant-based hard wax oil that protects against the everyday: crumbs, greasy fingers and juice that gets wiped up straight away. One thing to watch for, though. A wet glass left standing for a long time can leave a ring, because the moisture has time to soak into the material. So use placemats or coasters, and wipe up wet spots straight away.

If it happens anyway, the damage is not permanent. Glass rings and marks from spills can be sanded away, and then you treat the surface with Rubio Monocoat® again. Because the top is the same colour all the way through, no pale layer appears when you sand. You cannot do that with a painted or foil-wrapped table.

The top comes in eight colours: light grey, black, khaki green, green, blue, yellow, orange and red. The table does not need a new coat of oil at set intervals, only if the top has been sanded. To bring back the sheen, you can use Rubio Monocoat® Refresh Eco. There is more on durability in Does coloured furniture last? If you want colour at the table without committing the whole top to it, a Bjørk stool in a second colour does the job on a smaller scale.

Frequently asked questions