The 17 best dining tables for endless entertaining

Dining tables literally come in all shapes and sizes. You’ve got the formal mahogany expansive tables that look straight out of a dinner scene in Succession, the industrial-style sleek metal tables that could fit in at your local coffee shop, and the more rustic farmhouse tables that can bring seaside holiday home vibes to your small city flat. For a piece of furniture ostensibly so simple, and that really just has one practical function, it really is a tricky one to get right.

The key with dining tables is to know what kind of space you’re going for before you start looking. Do you want your home to feel like a country retreat? Are you planning something more simple and stripped back? Do you have the budget for a more luxurious marble-topped statement maker? Make this decision first and then we’ve got you covered below with the best dining tables for every vibe. We’ve hunted high and low at our favourite furniture stores across the country, and taking into account style, quality and aesthetics, these are our top winners.

Skip to: What type of dining table is best? | How should you choose a dining table? | How we chose the best dining tables: GQ's review process | Shop GQ's picks of the best dining tables to buy in 2024…

We've broken down our top picks for the best dining room tables into sections below if you're looking for a quickfire list of our favourite dining tables. For more details, our guide to how to buy a dining table

• The best wooden dining table: Heal’s Oslo, £2,089 £1,669 at heals.com
• The best extendable dining table: Cox & Cox Chevron dining table, from £1,195 at coxandcox.co.uk
• The best budget-friendly dining table: Dunelm Bryant dining table, £215 at dunelm.com
• The best industrial dining table: Heal’s Madrid, £2,039 £1,629 at heals.com
• The best multi-function dining table: Cornilleau Play-Style Origin table, £1,850 at amazon.co.uk
• The best farmhouse dining table: Dusk Alice dining table, £399 £209 at dusk.com

At GQ we try to test all the products we recommend within our best lists, though it's not always possible to fit larger items like dining tables into our small homes. When our editors, testers and reviewers aren't able to test products themselves, we consider a number of factors about products before we recommend them. We have taken into account materials used, guarantee periods, warranties and style, as well as customer reviews to ensure the dining tables we have recommended are some of the best in the market. We've also tried to ensure our picks represent the entire market to suit a variety of tastes and budgets. Our guide has also been edited by Daphne Bugler, GQ's Senior Commerce Writer who has four years of experience writing about everything Interiors and regularly visits showrooms, brands and chats to the best experts in the field to make sure we only give the best recommendations.

Shop GQ’s edit of the best dining tables…

Our picks of the best dining tables around are below, with plenty of detail about how many seats, their dimensions and what materials they are made out of to help you choose easily.

• Seats: Up to 10
• Material: Solid Oak, Oak Veneer
• Dimensions: H 76cm x W 160-280cm x D 90/100cm
• Weight: Not specified

Being able to make a piece of furniture your own cannot be undervalued as a feature, and Heal’s Oslo Dining Table gives you the option to do that, and then some. From your choice of six finishes (including oak and walnut), seven lengths, two table widths, three edge profiles and two fillers, it's hard to think of any design setting that you won’t be able to make this table suit. The table itself is understated and simple, with a relaxed feel that best fits into contemporary and farmhouse kitchens thanks to its subtle elegance. Less is often more when you buy larger pieces of furniture, especially when it means you get a timeless style that's made to last. £2,089 £1,669. At heals.com

• Seats: Up to 8
• Material: Oak Veneer, Pine Wood
• Dimensions: H 75cm x W 160cm x D 80cm
• Weight: 50kg

Dusk’s foray into dining furniture has been an exciting one, given that it’s already one of our go-to brands for affordable, yet well-made bedroom pieces. The Alice dining table is on the more charming and vintage-inspired side of what is a very contemporary collection, contrasting an oak-effect table surface with chic white legs for a dining table that looks both modern and farmhouse style at the same time. Pair it with Dusk’s white chairs or one of the dining table benches for a relaxed dining experience. Oh, and did we mention it’s less than £400 and there's also an extendable model? £399 £209. At dusk.com

• Seats: Up to 8
• Material: Solid Mahogany, White Oak Veneer top
• Dimensions: H 76cm x W 152-203cm x D 99cm
• Weight: 67kg

This West Elm table is all about simplicity, keeping things nice and stripped back to help compliment the rest of your home’s design. With no leaf, you’ll comfortably be able to sit six people, but add in the extendable segment and you can gather eight around it easily, giving you the option to host when you want to, but without taking up too much space the rest of the time. We’d say it’s also a great shade of wood for most design styles, whether you want to tie it together with a more modern look, or contrast with a more retro or vintage-styled aesthetic. £1,299. At westelm.co.uk

• Seats: Up to 8
• Materials: Solid Oak
• Dimensions: H 75cm x W 180cm x D 90cm
• Weight: 200kg

Dusk never lets us down, offering up some excellent options for the home, whether mattresses, furniture or bedding. The Heidi oval dining table will complement pretty much any interior - modern or traditional - with a solid oak construction, tapered legs and gorgeous curved lines making up the oval top. It's not extendable but it offers space for between six and eight, making it great for entertaining, family dinners or indulgent meals for two. £569 £439. At dusk.com

• Seats: Up to 8
• Material: Solid Oak, Oak Veneer
• Dimensions: H 76cm x W 200-252cm x D 90cm
• Weight: Not specified

Mix together blonde oak and a chevron tabletop design with tapered legs and an extendable butterfly mechanism and you have yourself one majestic scandi-inspired dining table. The light oak colour is ideal for a more neutral, minimalist space and leaves you open to turning it into more of a statement piece with the right table setting and centrepiece. You can also get this one in a non-extendable model. From £1,195. At coxandcox.co.uk

• Seats: Up to 8
• Material: Solid Oak, Oak Veneer
• Dimensions: H 76cm x W 200-252cm x D 90cm
• Weight: Not specified

If you’re working with a small kitchen or dining space, don’t be sold on the idea that your room doesn’t have as much potential. All you need is the right table. Enter Heal’s and its Totem Pedestal Dining Table. Small in size but with plenty of weight in design, the Totem is a unique take on a classic pedestal style, pairing smoked glass with a bronze inlay and wooden base for a modern design with chic undertones. At just over a grand, we’d say this is a good price for such an investment piece as well. £1400. At heals.com

• Seats: Up to 6
• Materials: Solid Oak
• Dimensions: H 77cm x W 250cm x D 107cm (small; medium and large also available)
• Weight: Not stated

Oka has a reputation for producing some of the most graceful and sumptuously understated furniture on the market today, and the Allegro is no exception. With a classically inspired aesthetic, set on two hexagonal bases which flare upwards and outwards like a gramophone (hence the name), the oak table seats four to six people in appropriately harmonious grandeur. £4,895. At oka.com

• Seats: Up to 6
• Material: Solid Eucalyptus Wood, Acorn Wood Veneer
• Dimensions: H 77cm x W 107-152cm x D 107cm
• Weight: Not specified

For that nonchalant kitchen table aesthetic, West Elm is a great choice, especially given the brand's great range of mid-century furniture. The wood colour comes in slightly darker than your traditional kitchen table pines, tapping into that moderately retro feel and also adding slightly more elegance to a casual room. And if you're short on space, you can also make use of the drop-in leaf to extend the table for dinner parties and gatherings, without having to have such a large piece in your kitchen day in and day out. £949. At westelm.co.uk

• Seats: Up to 6
• Materials: Solid Wood, Sintered Stone
• Dimensions: H 75cm x W 75cm x D 140cm
• Weight: Not stated

With three white pillars holding it up, Homary’s Oval Stone Dining table is giving us a bit of an Oval Office vibe; what might happen if you merged an ultra-luxe office with a dining room. The column supports create an opulent and luxe feel: indulgent in sheer size but kept fresh and modern by that stone top. Seating up to six, the white design means it's an easy choice to decorate ahead of family gatherings or dinner parties with friends, giving you endless opportunity for table designs, dressings and settings that can bring it to life without clashes. And the delivery process at Homary is seamless as well, giving you the option to pay a bit extra to have it delivered to the room of your choosing. Let’s bid adieu to days spent manoeuvring large furniture through narrow hallways: it’s all out of your hands now! £1,000. At homary.com

• Seats: Up to 6
• Material: Solid Oak
• Dimensions: H 75.5cm x W 120cm x D 120cm
• Weight: Not specified

If you’re going for a farmhouse-style design in your kitchen, this Rowan & Wren table makes for a dreamy piece for breakfasts or dinners. Inspired by English antiques, it has that rustic, antiquey feel to it that makes it looks like you’ve really put the effort into sourcing a vintage piece, despite the fact it’s actually brand spanking new. It’ll seat six people around it and looks particularly good if placed near some natural light by the window. £1,198. At rowanandwren.co.uk

• Seats: Up to 6
• Material: Solid Oak, Oak Veneer
• Dimensions: H 75cm x W 200cm x D 90cm
• Weight: 44.2kg

This gorgeous, organically curved dark oak dining table is as beautiful as it is unusual. With rounded ends and curved slatted leg pieces, it's as much a piece of art as it is a functional piece of furniture. Designed with easy circulation in mind (aka, no sharp corners that jut out into the room so that people can pass by easily), it's a very well-considered piece that will shine in any dining room it finds itself in. £799. At johnlewis.com

• Seats: Up to 8
• Materials: Acacia wood
• Dimensions: H 77cm x W 235cm x D 85cm
• Weight: 74kg

Swoon notes that the Emiko table is “inspired by elevating everyday rituals”; while we are occasionally sceptical of this sort of thing, we think we see it, in this case. There’s something practical about the table, as much as there is a serious stylishness. Simple slatted legs in dark brown acacia support a broad tabletop as suited to everyday living as it is those big occasions, Sunday lunches and candlelit dinners. £829. At swooneditions.com

• Seats: Up to 6
• Material: Reclaimed Wood
• Dimensions: H 77.5cm x W 140-180cm x D 90/100cm
• Weight: Not specified

Reclaimed wood can add a really nice feel to a piece, giving it plenty of character and making it feel like, for want of a better expression, part of the furniture of your home. The wooden top has its natural knots and grain, which we think just adds to the piece, while the base incorporates splayed legs that complement the darker wooden top in a matt black-coloured finish. And the real cherry on top? The table is extendable thanks to a handy table leaf which can be stored inside. Add in some matching benches, and you'll have nailed the wooden dining table style. £495. At barkerandstonehouse.co.uk

• Seats: Up to 10
• Material: Ceramic Top, Aluminium Legs
• Dimensions: H 76cm x W 130-230cm/160-260cm x D 90cm
• Weight: Not specified

Made from fine Italian ceramics and glass, this highly resistant dining table shrugs off scratches with ease, while offering the additional benefits of being liquid and heat resistant. Despite its hardy DNA, it's a beautiful piece, with its porcelain stoneware aesthetic lending itself nicely to industrial-focused interiors. If that wasn't enough, it's extendable too, letting you sit up to six people when closed and 10 when open, thanks to a cleverly hidden butterfly extension. Available in black or white ceramic, it'll make for a worthy centrepiece of your carefully curated dining room. £2,849 £2,279. At heals.com

• Seats: Up to 10
• Material: Oak or Walnut, Powder Coated Metal Legs
• Dimensions: H 76cm x W 160-280cm x D 90/100cm
• Weight: Not specified

Contemporary and chic, Heal’s Madrid is the ideal centrepiece for a contemporary or industrial kitchen, keeping things interesting with splayed metal legs that have varying widths. Adding depth and dimension it draws in your eyes, with the legs being the real stand-out feature here. We’re also loving the fact you can customise the design to your space, whether by choosing the finish or size, something which has been instrumental in why Heal’s is now one of our favourite furniture stores. Each piece is unique, with its own natural grain pattern, and given your home is too, it seems like the perfect fit. From £2,039 £1,629. At heals.com

• Seats: Up to 4
• Material: Mango Wood Effect, Metal Frame and Legs
• Dimensions: H 76.5cm x W 150cm x D 80cm
• Weight: 23.1kg

Industrial-style furniture has really had a hold on us this year, and while it tends to be associated more with office furniture, you needn’t just consider these pieces for your workspace. In classic metal-legs-meet-wooden-tabletop design, Dunelm’s Bryant brings the urban, city-living vibes of the aesthetic to the kitchen. Affordable, at under £250, and well-made, this is a dining table for those who want some subtle style points, but don’t want to splash out on a real statement maker. £215. At dunelm.com

• Seats: Up to 4
• Material: Oak, Oak Veneer, MDF
• Dimensions: H 75cm x W 120cm x D 120cm
• Weight: 31kg

If you pictured a kitchen table when you started reading this section, this one from John Lewis is probably exactly what you had in mind. The most typical style of kitchen table, it’s got a nice round design with that bright pine colour that feels light and fresh for your morning breakfast stop. The warmer, lighter wood feels more rustic and relaxed and fits into a more countryside-inspired kitchen than a more formal one. Sometimes all you want is just a classic style done really well. £799. At johnlewis.com

There's no one definitive style of dining table that's best. It all depends on your own personal tastes, how big your eating space is, the number of people you need to fit around the table, and whether or not you need it to be extendable for when extra guests appear.

Farmhouse styles can look great for a more subtle, yet still sophisticated look, while in a more minimalist kitchen or dining room you may want something with a sleek contemporary feel. To help, we’ve broken down a few of the design styles to keep an eye out for, and our favourite pieces from each.

It can be worth looking at dining tables in person in order to get a feel for the weight and heft of them – as the item of furniture that is often the largest in the room, getting them wrong can throw the whole room out of sync – but if that’s not possible, then consider their weight, size and material. Think about how often you’ll be hosting, and for whom. If the answer is “often, and for many people” then a larger or at least an extendable table is best if you need a 10 seater on a regular basis for example.

And, of course, measure any doorways, lifts or windows that you need to get through in order to ensure the table can actually fit into your house or flat. Dining chairs are pretty useless without a table to match after all, and there’s little more frustrating than spending £4,000 on a table only for it to sit on the pavement outside your house while you decide whether it’s worth chopping it in half to get it up the stairs. As funny as the Friends ‘Pivot’ scene is with Ross and the sofa, it’s not what you want to be doing yourself with your guests.