Dining Room

Designer Dining Room Furniture for Contemporary Homes

The dining room is a space for everyday meals, entertaining and spending time together, so the furniture needs to combine comfort, durability and proportion with a design that works naturally within the wider interior.

RB12's collection of designer dining room furniture brings together contemporary Scandinavian, Italian and European design across dining tables, dining chairs, benches and bar stools.

The collection includes furniture from Nova Nook, Bolia, Saba Italia, Bonaldo, Cattelan Italia, Miniforms, Warm Nordic, Tamo Design, Ro Collection, AYTM and other established European design brands.

Designer Dining Tables

The dining table normally establishes the scale and character of the entire dining area. RB12's designer dining table collection includes round, rectangular and extendable designs in solid timber, ceramic, glass, marble and contemporary composite materials.

One of the most recognisable Italian designs is the Bonaldo Big Table. Its distinctive intersecting steel base and extensive choice of sizes and finishes have helped make it one of Bonaldo's defining designs.

The Cattelan Italia Tyron Dining Table takes a similarly architectural approach, combining its sculptural metal base with a broad choice of timber and ceramic tops.

For a softer Scandinavian expression, the Bolia Graceful Dining Table is made from FSC-certified solid oak and characterised by slender lines and carefully detailed proportions.

Scandinavian Dining Room Furniture

Scandinavian dining furniture tends to place particular emphasis on natural materials, simple proportions and furniture designed to remain visually relevant over time. Timber plays an important role, with oak and other woods often combined with softer upholstery and relatively restrained forms.

Bolia offers an extensive dining collection spanning tables, chairs and benches. The Graceful Dining Table, designed by Michael H. Nielsen, provides a strong example of this Scandinavian approach, using solid oak to create a visually light but substantial dining table.

Warm Nordic brings classic Danish furniture design into the collection. The Warm Nordic Cow Horn Dining Chair, designed by Knud Færch, combines sculptural timber craftsmanship with a distinctive curved back and arm structure.

Other Scandinavian brands including AYTM, Ro Collection and Design House Stockholm extend this approach across seating, stools and complementary furniture.

Italian Dining Room Furniture

Italian dining furniture often takes a more architectural approach, using expressive bases, ceramic and marble surfaces, tailored upholstery and sculptural forms to give the dining area greater visual impact.

Bonaldo and Cattelan Italia are particularly strong choices for statement dining tables. Designs such as the Bonaldo Big Table and Cattelan Italia Tyron make the table base an important part of the architecture of the room rather than treating it as a purely functional support.

Saba Italia and Miniforms offer further interpretations of contemporary Italian dining furniture, combining expressive forms with material choice and a more individual approach to colour and finish.

Designer Dining Chairs

Dining chairs have to perform differently from occasional seating. They need to be comfortable enough for longer meals while remaining compact enough for several chairs to sit comfortably around the same table.

RB12's dedicated designer dining chair collection includes timber chairs, fully upholstered designs, dining armchairs and sculptural contemporary seating.

Bonaldo offers Italian chairs including the Youpi Chair, which uses a distinctive circular backrest to create a stronger sculptural presence around the table.

For Scandinavian dining rooms, the Warm Nordic Cow Horn Chair provides a timber-led alternative, while Bolia offers a substantial range of upholstered and timber dining chairs.

Upholstered Dining Chairs

Upholstered dining chairs can make a dining room feel softer and more comfortable, particularly where the table is used for entertaining as well as everyday meals.

Fabric and leather introduce colour and texture while providing additional cushioning compared with an entirely timber seat. Upholstery can also help connect the dining area visually with sofas, rugs and other textiles in an open-plan interior.

Brands including Bolia, Bonaldo, Cattelan Italia and Saba Italia provide upholstered seating in a broad range of colours, materials and configurations.

Wooden Dining Tables and Chairs

Timber dining furniture brings natural warmth into the room and works particularly well across Scandinavian, contemporary and more relaxed interiors.

Solid oak tables such as the Bolia Graceful Dining Table allow the grain and character of the timber to become part of the design, while wooden dining chairs can coordinate directly with the table or introduce a contrasting tone.

Matching every timber finish is not essential. Combining closely related oak, walnut or stained finishes can create a more layered interior than trying to make every piece identical.

Round Dining Tables

Round dining tables are especially useful where conversation and circulation are priorities. Without fixed corners, seating can be distributed more evenly around the perimeter and people can often move around the table more easily in compact rooms.

A round table can also help soften interiors dominated by straight cabinetry, rectangular rooms and linear furniture. Pairing it with curved or sculptural dining chairs reinforces the softer composition.

Explore the wider dining table collection to compare round designs with rectangular, oval and extendable alternatives.

Extendable Dining Tables

Extendable dining tables provide flexibility for homes where the number of diners changes regularly. The table can remain relatively compact for everyday use and then provide additional places when entertaining.

This makes extendable tables particularly useful in apartments, kitchen-diners and open-plan interiors where dedicating floor space permanently to a very large dining table may not be practical.

When comparing extendable designs, consider both the closed and fully extended dimensions and make sure there is enough circulation space around the table once additional chairs have been added.

Dining Benches

A dining bench can provide a more relaxed alternative to individual chairs and may allow more people to sit along one side of a table.

Backless benches can often tuck beneath the tabletop when not in use, helping maintain cleaner sightlines in smaller rooms. Upholstered benches provide additional comfort and can create a softer, more informal dining arrangement.

Combining a bench along one side of a rectangular table with individual dining chairs on the other creates a balanced arrangement while adding variation to the room.

Bar Stools and Kitchen Seating

Dining areas increasingly extend into kitchens and open-plan spaces, making bar stools an important part of the wider dining furniture collection.

Stools can provide informal seating around a kitchen island or breakfast bar while maintaining a visual relationship with the main dining area. Designs are available in timber, metal and upholstered finishes, allowing them to coordinate with cabinetry, dining chairs and surrounding furniture.

The AYTM Angui Bar Chair, for example, combines a slender steel frame with upholstered seating and is available in a choice of colours and heights.

Dining Room Furniture for Small Spaces

Smaller dining areas benefit from furniture selected carefully around circulation. A round table can remove projecting corners, while an extendable table provides additional capacity only when it is required.

Dining chairs with relatively compact widths make it easier to accommodate several people, while a backless bench can slide beneath the table and free up floor space between meals.

Measure the full furniture arrangement rather than only the tabletop. Chairs need additional room behind them when being used, and enough space should remain for people to walk comfortably around the dining area.

Dining Furniture for Open-Plan Interiors

In an open-plan kitchen and living space, dining furniture needs to relate visually to several areas at once. Materials, upholstery and lighting can help connect the dining table with surrounding cabinetry and living-room furniture while still giving the dining zone its own identity.

A substantial table can establish the centre of the dining area, while a large designer rug can help define the zone where appropriate.

Lighting is particularly effective for separating the dining area visually. Positioning one or more designer pendant lights above the table creates a strong focal point and brings illumination closer to the dining surface.

How to Choose a Dining Table

Begin with the available room dimensions and number of people who regularly need to sit at the table. Consider both the tabletop dimensions and the additional space required for chairs and circulation around it.

Round tables encourage a more conversational arrangement, while rectangular tables work particularly well in longer rooms and can provide greater capacity. Extendable designs offer useful flexibility where occasional additional seating is required.

Material will also change the character of the room. Timber introduces warmth, ceramic provides a more architectural surface, glass creates a visually lighter appearance and marble can make the table a stronger decorative feature.

How to Choose Dining Chairs for Your Table

Check chair width and seat height against the dimensions of the table before ordering. Dining armchairs require additional clearance, while slimmer armless chairs may allow more seats around the same table.

The chairs do not have to match the table exactly. A solid timber table can be softened with upholstered seating, while a strong architectural Italian table can work with relatively understated chairs.

Browse the dedicated dining chair collection alongside your chosen table so that dimensions, colours and materials can be considered together.

Creating a Complete Dining Room

Once the dining table and chairs have been selected, lighting and accessories can help complete the space. A pendant light or chandelier above the table helps establish the dining area as a focal point.

A rug can introduce texture and soften acoustics, while decorative objects, tableware and other accessories can add colour without requiring permanent changes to the main furniture.

The aim is not necessarily to make every element match, but to create a relationship between scale, material and colour so that the dining area feels connected to the rest of the home.

Shop Designer Dining Room Furniture Online at RB12

RB12 offers an extensive collection of designer dining room furniture in the UK, including dining tables, dining chairs, dining benches and bar stools.

Explore Scandinavian and Italian dining furniture from Bolia, Bonaldo, Cattelan Italia, Saba Italia, Miniforms, Warm Nordic, Nova Nook, Tamo Design, AYTM and other contemporary European furniture brands.