Seb Oval Dining Table - Black Oak

The Seb Oval Dining Table in Black Oak is 220cm long, 105cm wide and 76.5cm high, in timber veneer. The oval has no corners to walk around, so a narrow dining room loses less floor to the table than a rectangle of the same length. It seats around eight.

An oval earns its place in a room that is long and not quite wide enough. The ends taper, so the chairs at the head sit closer in and the traffic route past the table stays open where a rectangular corner would block it.

At 220cm this is a serious length, and the thing people forget is the chair clearance. Allow another 75cm all round for pulled-out chairs before deciding it fits, which on this table means a room about 3.7m long at minimum.

Veneer over a core rather than solid timber keeps a top this size flat, which is the right engineering choice. It also means a deep scratch cannot be sanded out the way it could on solid stock, so mats under serving dishes are worth the small fuss.