Torino 1.2/1.4m Extending Table: the two options explained

The listing for the Torino 1.2/1.4m Extending Dining Table is two lines of dimensions and nothing else. Those lines are more informative than they look, so here is how to read them and what you still need to ask.

The two options, as listed

The 1.2 and 1.4 in the name are the closed lengths. Each option then gains 30cm or 40cm when it opens, so the smaller runs 120cm to 150cm and the larger 140cm to 180cm. The depths differ as well, 85cm against 90cm, which is the figure to watch if the room is tight across rather than along. Both are 78cm high, where most of the dining tables range is 75cm, so there is a little more clearance under the top for chairs with arms.

What each option seats

Allow around 60cm of edge per place setting, and nearer 75cm for comfort.

• 120-150 x 85cm. Closed, four is right: two to each long side. Open at 150cm, four generously or six using the ends.
• 140-180 x 90cm. Closed, four comfortably at 70cm a place along the sides, or six once the ends are in use. Open at 180cm, six is the natural number at 60cm each, eight with the ends in use.

If the table is normally closed and opens for guests, pick the option whose closed length suits daily life and whose open length suits the biggest meal you actually host. Buying for the open size alone leaves a table that is too big most of the year.

Clear floor, open and closed

• Allow about 75cm out from each edge for a chair in use, and about 100cm where somebody walks behind a seated diner.
• The smaller option needs roughly 270 x 235cm closed and 300 x 235cm open.
• The larger needs roughly 290 x 240cm closed and 330 x 240cm open.
• Push one long side to a wall and you save about 75cm across, but you lose the seats on that side.

Check the open figure against the room with the furniture where it actually stands. An extension that only works once the sideboard is moved is not an extension you will use.

What the listing does not say

These are dimensions-only listings, so the top material and finish, the colour, the base or leg design, the weight, the extension mechanism, whether the leaf stores inside the table, and whether it arrives assembled are all unstated. Do not infer them from a photograph. The leaf is the question worth asking first, because a leaf that lives outside the table needs a cupboard. Ask the shop for that and for the current lead time.

What to compare it with

If the room wants a round table, the Torino 1.1m Round Extending Dining Table closes at 110cm and opens to 150cm. The Lucca 1.2m Extending Dining Table is the nearest alternative at the same starting length. And for more extension range in one table, the London Extending Dining Table (1.2-1.5/1.6-2m) goes further. Chairs are sold separately under dining chairs.

Before you order

Decide the closed length first, measure the open size on the floor, and ask about the top, the leaf and the mechanism. Delivery is free within 50 miles of our Glasgow store and £50 beyond. Both options and the photographs are on the Torino 1.2/1.4m Extending Dining Table page.