SG-Chelsea Dining Table: choosing between the 1.8m and the 2m

The SG-Chelsea Dining Table (1.8/2m) is offered in two sizes, and the step between them is not only a step in length. Picking the right one is mostly arithmetic, so here are the figures the listing gives and what they mean once the table is in a room.

The two sizes, as listed

The 2m is 20cm longer and 10cm deeper. The extra depth is the figure to watch: it comes off the walkway on both long sides, so in a room where the table has chairs on each side, the larger option costs you more floor than the 20cm of length suggests. The height is the same on both, 75cm.

What the frame does, and the one thing to ask

The listing describes a gold frame with circular legs at both ends, joined by a reinforced supporting bar. Legs at the ends rather than at the corners is good news for the long sides, because nothing interrupts the run and chairs can slide in anywhere along it. The supporting bar is the trade-off, and the listing does not say how high off the floor it sits. If anyone will regularly sit at the ends, that is worth asking about before you order.

The listing also says you choose between a marble or a ceramic surface. The product page itself only offers the size, so the top material is not something you pick in the basket. Ask the shop which surface the size you want is supplied with, and ask it before ordering rather than after.

What the listing does not give at all: top thickness, weight, the finish on the gold frame, or whether the frame is assembled or arrives flat. None of that is guesswork you should have to do, so put it in the same question.

What each size seats

Allow roughly 60cm of edge per place setting, and nearer 75cm if you want people to eat without touching elbows.

• 180 x 90cm. Six is the comfortable number, three along each side at 60cm each. Add one at each end and you have eight, with 90cm of end edge each, which works for a dinner rather than every weeknight.
• 200 x 100cm. Six very comfortably at 66cm each, or eight at 50cm a side. The 100cm depth is what makes eight realistic, because there is room down the middle for dishes without anyone losing their plate space.

End seats are the place the frame decides things. With legs at the ends and a bar between them, an end diner is sitting at the leg, not between two of them, so check the leg diameter and the bar height against how you plan to use the table.

Floor space, measured honestly

• Allow about 75cm out from an edge for a chair in use, and about 100cm where someone walks behind a seated diner.
• The 180 x 90cm needs roughly 330 x 240cm of clear floor with chairs on all four sides, or about 330 x 165cm pushed against a wall.
• The 200 x 100cm needs roughly 350 x 250cm, or about 350 x 175cm against a wall.
• Measure the route in as well. A 200cm rigid top does not negotiate a tight stair turn, and the listing does not say whether the top ships separately from the frame.

If a different shape or size suits better

For a round top in the same gold-framed look, the SG-Chelsea Round Table (1.3m) is 130cm across on a cross pedestal. If you want the long sides completely clear of legs, the SG-London Dining Table (1.8/2m) uses a U-shaped pedestal in the same two sizes. And if you need a shorter option than 180cm, the SG-Lewis Dining Table (1.5/1.8/2m) starts at 150cm. Everything else in the range is on the dining tables page, and chairs are listed under dining chairs.

Before you order

Decide the depth before the length, measure the walkway on both sides, and ask the shop about the top material, the bar height and the frame finish. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. Both sizes and the full set of photographs are on the SG-Chelsea Dining Table (1.8/2m) page.