Siena Dining Table: 1.5m or 1.8m, and what oak effect means

The Siena Dining Table (1.5/1.8m) is offered in two sizes that share the same depth, which makes it one of the simpler decisions in the dining tables range. You are choosing length and nothing else.

The two sizes, as listed

Because both are 90cm deep and 75cm high, going up to the 180cm costs you nothing across the room. That is unusual. On most tables a longer option is also a deeper one, and the depth is what eats the walkway on both sides. Here the only question is whether you have the extra 30cm along the wall.

Oak effect, said plainly

The listing describes a warm oak-effect top with black metal legs, and it is worth being clear about what the word effect is doing. An oak-effect surface is a finish that looks like oak rather than solid oak timber, and the listing says so openly rather than implying otherwise. That is not a drawback in itself: an applied finish is consistent from one end of the top to the other, where real timber varies.

What the listing does not say is what the top is made of underneath, how thick it is, or how the finish is applied. It also does not give the weight, the leg inset or the finish on the black metal. If any of that matters to you, ask the shop rather than reading it into a photograph.

What each size seats

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

• 150 x 90cm. Four comfortably, two to each long side with 75cm each. Six if you use the ends, which suits a dinner better than every weeknight.
• 180 x 90cm. Six is the natural everyday number at 60cm a place, three to each side. Eight with the ends in use.

The listing says a black metal frame with legs. On any legged table the end places are the ones to check: ask for the leg inset and compare the clear gap between legs with the widest point of your chairs, arms included. That one measurement decides whether six really means six.

Clear floor for each option

• Allow about 75cm out from an edge for a chair in use, and about 100cm where someone walks behind a seated diner.
• 150 x 90cm needs roughly 300 x 240cm of clear floor with chairs all round, or about 300 x 165cm with one long side to a wall.
• 180 x 90cm needs roughly 330 x 240cm, or about 330 x 165cm against a wall.
• Measure the way in too. A 180cm top is rigid, and the listing does not say whether the top and the legs ship separately.

If a different top suits the room

The dark-leg, pale-top combination is a particular look, and the range has alternatives at the same footprint. The MB White Marble Dining Table (1.5m) is 150 x 90cm with a stone top on a single pedestal. The BK-Milan Dining Table (1.5/1.8m) offers the same two lengths. And if 150cm is still too much table, the Venice Dining Table (1.2/1.5m) starts shorter. Chairs are sold separately under dining chairs, so take the leg colour into account when you pick them.

Before you order

Measure the wall run, pick the length, and ask the shop for the top thickness and the leg inset. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. Both sizes and the photographs are on the Siena Dining Table (1.5/1.8m) page.