Designer FAQs: Dining Room Furniture
Is Ethan Allen dining room furniture good quality?
Absolutely! Much of our dining room furniture is made in our North American workshops. We use hardwoods like maple, birch, oak, and cherry, and we use techniques that have been handed down through the generations. We still use mortise-and-tenon joinery to attach table legs to tabletops, and we use dovetail joinery in the drawers of our buffets. We even put a UV coating on the interior of each drawer to prevent fading—that’s how much we care about getting every detail right.
Our fabrics are tested to meet the industry’s most rigorous standards for colorfastness, seam integrity, pilling, and more. We cut and color-blend most of our leather by hand, and we never rely on shortcuts like bonding or vinyl matching. It takes time to make custom dining furniture, but the time we take today ensures a lifetime of quality and years of happy moments around the table.
What furniture goes in a dining room?
A dining room should have some or all of the following furniture pieces, textiles, and accents. What you need depends on how much space you have, but here’s a general shopping list:
- Dining table and chairs or benches
- Tablescape elements (bowls, jars, baskets, candlesticks, florals, etc.)
- Table linens
- Table pad to protect dining table
- Storage pieces (buffets, display cabinets, etc.)
- Lighting: overhead chandeliers or pendants, and where appropriate, buffet lamps or wall sconces
- Wall décor: artwork and/or wall mirrors
- Drapery
- Area rug
What does a dining room set or dinette set consist of? Does Ethan Allen sell dining sets?
A dining room set can consist of just a table and chairs, or it may include a buffet and/or china cabinet. At Ethan Allen, we don’t sell packaged dining sets; we’re an interior design company, so we believe in giving our clients the freedom to mix and match dining table and chair options.
So how do you put together your own dining room set? We have a few tips:
- Decide how many people you need to seat. Always check your table’s product description to confirm, but a round or square dining table can accommodate up to 4 people; a rectangular table can usually accommodate 6 to 8. To seat even more, try an extension table.
- Choose your chair combo. . You can choose all side chairs, place armchairs or fully upholstered host chairs at the head and foot of your table, or swap one or both rows of chairs for dining benches.
- Add storage. If you need extra space to tuck away your table linens, silver, or fine china—or to stash those board games for family night—add a buffet, sideboard, server, or display cabinet.
- Don’t forget the spirits! . If you entertain regularly or like to keep spirits in your house, add a bar cabinet that does double duty for both storage and serving.
Do you have some dining room sets that you can recommend?
Yes! Here are some sets of dining room tables and chairs that you can find in our inspiration hub:
- Elegant dining room set >
- Modern dining room set >
- Round dining room set >
- Black dining room set >
- White dining room set >
- Gray dining room set >
- Dining set for 4 >
- Dining set for 6 >
If what you see here isn’t speaking to you, click our Designer Chat button. One of our professional interior designers can help you put your own dining room set together based on your home’s unique needs—their help is free.
You can also create completely custom dining tables and buffets. Begin designing here >
How do I know that my dining furniture will fit in my space?
We have a couple of digital design tools to help ensure that your dining furniture will fit:
- Use our 3D Room Planner if you want to create a floor plan or see dining furniture in 3D. Simply enter your room’s measurements, and drag and drop in your furniture and accessories.
- Download our EA inHome® app to preview individual pieces in your current space. Simply point your mobile device where you want your new dining furniture to go, and it will appear on your screen at approximate size and scale.
You can easily share designs from both of these tools with friends and family, and you can also send them to one of our designers if you need advice or want to collaborate on creating a dining room design.
Do you have more questions? Click the Designer Chat icon, or contact your local Design Center—we’re happy to help!