When it comes time to furnish your new kitchen or make a few upgrades to your current one, you’ll want to find a kitchen table that’s not only stylish but comfortable, which means that having enough legroom is an absolute must. Since you love hosting your fabulous dinner parties, you want to create a pleasant environment where your guests feel relaxed and at home. This means that in addition to thoughtfully choosing your table style and décor, the height needs to be just right (and determining the ideal height is the best place to start on your kitchen table quest). So exactly how tall is a kitchen table supposed to be?
Here’s an easy three-step question-and-answer guide to help you find that answer (and more) for obtaining the best height, style, and décor for your kitchen table.
1. What is a Standard Kitchen Table Height?
To determine the best kitchen table height, it’s best to start with the chairs. Knowing the standard chair height will help us determine the standard height for a kitchen table. The standard kitchen chair height is about 18 inches, so you’ll want a table that provides 12 inches of legroom for adults sitting at the table.
The chairs in this kitchen table set are 18 inches from the top of the seat cushion to the floor, so to have 12 inches of legroom from the top of the seat to the top of the table, the kitchen table height needs to be approximately 30 inches. This is the standard height for kitchen tables and provides the best level of comfort for most adults.
When measuring the top of this table to the floor, it shows that it’s 30 ½ inches, which leaves the perfect amount of legroom for these 18-inch seats. This table height allows people to comfortably rest their forearms against the table as they cut their food and eat their meal, without having to reach too low or too high, and also leaves plenty of room to cross their legs.
2. What Type of Kitchen Table Styles Works Best?
Once you’ve found a table that’s approximately 30 inches in height, you’ve won half the battle, as again, this helps to create a comfortable seating area. After you’ve crossed that off of the checklist, you can determine which table style best suits your space. The particular table style that you choose depends on the shape and size of the room, as well as your home’s design style. The specific design style of this home is more on the traditional side, so a traditional set consisting of a walnut-colored wooden table and chairs is perfect for this space.
The shape is also an important factor, as that alone can boost the visual interest in the room when done correctly. Because this kitchen is rectangular with a rectangular area rug, a circular table creates a more complex and intricate design in the room. A square or rectangular table would work just as well in terms of functionality, but the round shape of the tabletop eliminates the predictability factor and hard angles with a soft edge.
3. Do the Table Height and Style Matter When It Comes to Décor?
Dining kitchen tables provide the perfect foundation for an artful, vibrant touch of color and texture, which can be accomplished with a well-crafted centerpiece. Regardless of the height and style of your table, your centerpiece can be as big or small as you like (provided there’s enough room for place settings). There’s technically no height limit for centerpieces, but it’s best to keep them under 24 inches so they don’t overpower the rest of the design elements in the room.
This particular table not only has space for a centerpiece on top but also has a beautiful cutout shelf below the top that’s level with the seats, which provides a unique opportunity to display décor that can add a subtle, extra pop of color to the room.
A large red bowl of bright green Granny Smith apples perfectly complements the upholstery on the chairs and the small floral bouquet on the top of the table. (As a side note, if you want a centerpiece on the table while you eat, a smaller flower arrangement like this one is perfect because it won’t block your guests’ view when they’re having conversations with each other.) You can match the fruit and flowers to coordinate with particular seasons and holidays to give it a thoughtful and creative touch. Making small floral bouquets from fresh flowers and coming up with different ways to incorporate seasonal fruit will breathe new life into the room with their vibrant colors and heavenly scents!
If you want to get the most “bang for your buck” in terms of bright colors and delightful fruity scents, you can learn how to make a kitchen table centerpiece with lemons and limes using accents, vases, and bowls that you already have in your house. It’s a wonderful way to display your artistic side while establishing a warm and inviting space for you and your loved ones (and earning your reputation as the Martha Stewart or Nate Berkus of the family).
Finding the right kitchen table height, style, and décor helps to create the best kitchen eating area for family brunches and intimate dinner parties with friends, and is as easy as 1-2-3. Who knew that searching for a kitchen table could actually be kind of fun? Once you know what to look for, you’ll have your eating area set up in no time, and you can move onto the best part: enjoying coffee, eggs, and bacon in the morning sunlight at your perfect kitchen table. Ah, bliss!
