Allow about 60cm of table length for each person, choose a width of 90 to 100cm (or 120cm if you want room for serving dishes down the middle) and aim for a finished height of around 75cm. On those rules a 2.4m x 1.2m table seats 8 comfortably or 10 snugly. Then check the room: you need clear space all round to pull chairs out and walk past.

Step 1: Work out how many people you need to seat

The rule we use is 600mm of table length per diner. It gives each person room for a place setting and their elbows without bumping into their neighbour. It also lines up with the kitchen planning guidelines of the US National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA), which allow a knee space 610mm wide for each person at a table around 76cm high.

You can also seat people at the ends. A 90 to 100cm wide table has room for one person at each end, and a 1.2m wide table can take two at each end on the same 60cm rule. If you plan to use the ends regularly, bear the legs in mind, because a leg frame set right at the end of the table gets in the way of knees. Our guide to choosing steel legs for a slab table covers leg position and legroom.

Step 2: Choose the width

For a solid wood dining table, 90 to 100cm is a standard width, with room for a place setting on each side.

If you like to put flowers, sharing dishes or candles down the middle, consider 120cm. That extra width lets you place food in the centre while still leaving plenty of room for everyone’s place settings.

With a live edge table, remember that the width changes along the length because the edge follows the tree. We work with you on the edge contour during the build, so the narrowest points still give everyone enough space. Book-matched English elm tables made from two slabs can be up to about 1.3m wide, French oak up to 1.5m, and single-slab burr oak tables from 1m to 1.5m wide.

Step 3: Check the height

The standard finished height of a dining table is around 75cm. That is the height of the top surface, so the thickness of the slab is included. For a coffee table the standard height is 45cm.

Because everything we make is bespoke, we can adjust the height if you have particular chairs in mind or want a desk or console table instead.

Step 4: Make sure the room works

A table that fits the room on paper can still feel cramped if people can’t get in and out of their chairs. The NKBA planning guidelines give useful minimum distances from the edge of the table to a wall or other obstruction behind a seated diner:

• 81cm if nobody needs to pass behind the seated person
• 91cm for someone to edge past
• 112cm for someone to walk past
• 152cm if a wheelchair user needs to pass behind

Add the clearance on each side to the table size to find the room space you need. With the same clearance on all four sides, that works out as follows:

If one side of the table sits against a wall with a bench and nobody walks behind it, or the ends are never used, you need less. If the table sits in a through route, such as an open-plan kitchen with the island behind the chairs, plan for the larger figure on that side.

Step 5: Think about shape

A slab table naturally follows the long shape of the boards it is made from, usually with live edges along the sides and chamfered edges at the ends. A few points to consider:

• Live edges versus straight edges. A live edge gives the table its character but varies in width. If the space is tight, you can have a chamfered edge on all sides for a consistent width.
• Benches. A matching bench on one side has no arms or fixed seat spacing, so it can be easier to squeeze an extra person on when you need to.
• Coffee tables. Nobody sits at a coffee table, so the size is up to you. As a starting point we suggest 150cm x 50cm at a height of 45cm.

A quick way to check before you order

Mark the outline of the table on the floor with masking tape, then put your chairs around it and walk round the room. Try pulling a chair out and sitting down with someone walking behind you. Ten minutes with a roll of tape will tell you more than any calculation.

Once you know the size, the next decision is the wood. Our French oak vs English elm guide compares two of our most popular species, and our dining table ordering guide walks through species, size, legs and finish step by step. We take care of the millimetre-precision cutting; you just tell us how big you would like the table.

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