04 Oct 2026
London Extending Dining Table: measuring for both open and closed
This guide is about
London Extending Dining Table (1.2-1.5/1.6-2m)
An extending table is two tables, and you have to measure for both. The London Extending Dining Table is offered in two base sizes, each with its own extended length, and the listing describes a grey ceramic top, a chrome frame and a U-shaped pedestal base. The closed size is the one you live with; the open size is the one that has to fit on Christmas Day.
The sizes, exactly as listed
| Option | As the listing gives it | Closed | Extended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smaller | 120-150 x 90 x 75cm | 120 x 90cm | 150 x 90cm |
| Larger | 160-200 x 90 x 75cm | 160 x 90cm | 200 x 90cm |
The depth stays at 90cm and the height at 75cm whichever option you take, and only the length changes when it opens. Both options are usefully deep: 90cm takes a place setting each side with a clear strip down the middle.
What each setting seats
On roughly 60cm of edge per place setting, and counting the ends because the pedestal base leaves them clear, the smaller option works out at six either way: 120cm and 150cm both take two along each long side, so the extension buys those four people elbow room rather than buying you a fifth place. The larger option seats six closed and eight open, because 200cm takes three a side where 160cm takes two. Those are our own numbers from measuring, not a claim the listing makes.
The honest way to choose is to decide which setting you will be in most of the time. A table that lives extended because the closed size is too small is just a large table you paid an extension for. Buy for the everyday size, and treat the extension as the occasional one.
Clearance, open and closed
Allow about 100cm clear on each side you will seat somebody: around 75cm to pull a chair back and sit down, plus space to pass behind. Work it out twice.
- Smaller option: about 320 x 290cm closed, about 350 x 290cm extended.
- Larger option: about 360 x 290cm closed, about 400 x 290cm extended.
Check which way the table grows in your room as well as by how much. An extension that runs towards a doorway or a radiator blocks the room the moment you open it, and the extra chairs have to go somewhere too. Mark the extended length on the floor with tape before you order and walk round it.
What the listing does not say
- The mechanism is described only as intuitive. Nothing says whether a leaf is stored inside the table or has to be kept elsewhere, or whether one person can open it alone. Ask us before you order, because where the leaf lives is a real decision in a small flat.
- The top is given as grey ceramic. No thickness, no finish and no care instructions are listed.
- No weight is given. A ceramic top at either size is heavy, so plan the route in and have somebody with you on delivery day.
- Nothing is said about whether the base arrives attached to the top.
What it sits with
If you would rather have one fixed length, the London Dining Table (1.5/1.8/2m) covers the same ground on the same U-shaped base. For a round extending top, the Lucca 1.1m Round Extending Dining Table opens from 110cm to 150cm. The Cheshire Extending Dining Table is listed in the same two size bands, which makes it the straight comparison. All of them, with their photographs side by side, are in Dining Tables.
Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. Once you have taped out the extended length, the London Extending Dining Table page carries the photographs and both size options.