A Table For All Occasions: 5 Reasons To Have A Solid Wood Expandable Dining Table

They say that home is where the heart is. While this may be true, we also believe that the dining table is the heart of the home. 

Your dining table is where your family will gather for meals, or play games. It's also a place where you will share stories and make memories. 

If you want a table that your family will love, a solid wood expandable dining table is a great choice. A sturdy wood table will last for many years. This way, it will stay in your family for generations.

Let's take a look at five reasons why your home needs a solid wood expandable dining table.

Make Family Time Special

With our busy schedules, we often don't have time for our families. In fact, some recent studies show that working parents spend an average of just 34 minutes a day with their children. 

This is why it's important to have a central location in your home for your family to gather. Here's why a solid wood expandable dining table is the perfect place for these gatherings.

Share Family Meals

Your solid wood expandable dining table is one of the most important items in your home. This is because it's where your family will share meals. 

Evidence shows that having regular family meals has many benefits for children. For instance, teenagers who eat meals with their family tend to get better grades in school. For younger children, having conversations around the dinner table improves language skills.

Having family meals is also beneficial to your children's diet and nutrition. Children who grow up eating meals with their families are less likely to experience disordered eating later in life. 

Overall, sharing family meals brings your whole family closer together. These improved family bonds make your children happier and healthier. Also, children with good relationships with their family will be less likely to get in trouble. 

So why is a solid wood expandable dining table the right choice for your family meals?

With an expandable table, you'll have the ability to add more seats to your table. So, if you children invite friends over for dinner, or you have extended family come to visit, it will be easy to accommodate them. This will make your home a great place to enjoy meals. 

Institute a Family Board Game Night

Sharing meals isn't the only use for your new solid wood expandable dining table. An expandable dining table is also a great place to set up your family's board game night.  

Like sharing family meals, playing board games or card games as a family teaches important social skills. Also, some board games include educational features that help reinforce math and literacy skills. Not to mention, board games are just a lot of fun. 

Sometimes, however, it can be challenging to find a place to spread out all the necessary pieces for a game. This is what makes a solid wood expandable dining table a great place to play. There will be plenty of room to set up games like Risk, or even a hand of poker. 

Work Together

Since our families are so busy, one of the best ways to spend more time with our families is by doing our work together. 

A solid wood expandable dining table can be a perfect communal location for your family to gather and get work done. The ample space will provide plenty of room for kids to complete homework and parents to finish up work or pay bills at the same time. And, if you do your work in the same place, you can make sure you're available to help your kids with their homework. 

A Solid Wood Expandable Dining Table Makes the Most of Your Space

Furnishing your home with versatile and multi-purpose furniture is a great way to make use of the space in your home. This is especially important for small spaces, or for people who move often. Here are some ways that an expandable table will make your space function better. 

The Table Will Grow with You

The average person will move 11 times in their lifetime. The costs of movers, transferring utilities, and deposits add up quickly. Not to mention, your move can become even more expensive if you have to replace your furniture. 

The good thing about a solid wood expandable dining table is that it can fit in a variety of spaces. So, if you start out in a small apartment, you can use it in the non-expanded position. Then, when you move into a larger home you'll have room to use it in both positions. 

You'll also be happy that you chose an expandable table if you ever choose to downsize. Or, you may simply move to a home with a smaller dining room. Whatever the case, an expandable table will be able to adapt to the homes you live in throughout your life. 

A Solid Wood Expandable Dining Table Will Help Your Space Adapt

Even if you don't plan a moving anytime soon, an expandable table is still ideal for making the most of your space. This is because it makes your space more flexible. 

In modern architecture, open floor plans are popular. This means that rooms have to serve multiple functions. For instance, you may have a room that serves as a dining room, a living room, and an office. 

A solid wood expandable dining table will make it easier to more a single room multiple ways. When the table is fully extended, you'll be able to seat a large dinner party. You can even add in leaves at the last minute if you have unexpected guests. 

While it's great to be able to entertain, the truth is that most families don't have large dinner parties every night. For this reason, it is impractical to take up space in your home with a large dining table that you only need occasionally.  

This is what makes a solid wood expandable dining table ideal. When you don't have guests, you can take the leaves out and have a smaller table. This will make more space available in your room for its other uses. 

A Wood Table Is Durable and Classic

Furniture can be a big investment. In order to get the best value, you want to choose a table that will last a long time and won't go out of style. A solid wood expandable table fills both of these requirements. 

Wood Tables are Timeless

At Home and Timber, we're committed to constructing expertly-crafted, old-fashioned furniture. Unlike mass-produced, commercial furniture, our pieces are made with attention to detail and are built to last. 

Also, Americans have been gathering for meals around wooden tables for hundreds of years. If you purchase a modern, trendy table, it will look outdated in a few years. But if you choose one of our handcrafted tables, it could be your next family heirloom. 

Even if your style changes, a wooden table will go well with it. A wooden table is a classic, works well with many different kinds of decor. 

Solid Wood Tables are Sturdy

As the old saying goes, "You get what you pay for." This is definitely true when it comes to wooden furniture. 

If you go to a discount furniture outlet, you will find tables at low prices. But you'll also find tables that are constructed from synthetic materials, or held together with cheap glue. 

Over time, you'll find that buying cheaper furniture actually costs more in the long run. This is because you'll need to repair or replace it more often. 

Choosing the Right Wood

Not all woods are created equal. Choosing the right wood for your preferences is essential to picking the perfect table. 

One type of wood is not necessarily better than the other. Rather, different woods come at different densities, weights, and prices. The wood you choose, then, will depend on your specific needs. 

Quarter Sawn White Oak

With a straight cut the white oak grain pattern is straight with a coarse, uneven texture. Adding the quarter turn cut to the white oak reveals a wonderfully different and stunningly unique grain pattern. Similar to a tigers stripes, quarter sawn white oak sections will display the beautiful ray fleck patterns that are hidden in a straight cut. Being naturally resistant to liquids and extremely rot resistant, white oak has been used extensively for ship building and the construction of barrels and casks. 

See our Quarter Sawn White Oak guide for more of its features and benefits. 

Walnut

Walnut features a creamy white sapwood that contrasts against a rich light to dark chocolate brown heartwood. Grown throughout the Eastern and Central United States, black walnut was once found in abundance in the rich deep soil of the eastern bottomland forest. It was once not uncommon to find 150’ tall trees with 6’ trunks.

See our Walnut hardwood guide for more of its features and benefits. 

Cherry

Cherry wood is known for its beautiful satiny smooth texture, delicate grain pattern, moderate natural luster and most notably, the rich reddish-brown patina that it will develop as it is exposed to both time and sunlight. Found throughout the entire eastern United States, the cherry tree is mostly grown in the Northern and Great Lake states. You can find cherry trees with an average height of between 60 to 70 feet.

See our Cherry hardwood guide for more of its features and benefits. 

Find the Perfect Table for You

Even though wooden tables classic, that doesn't mean they're all the same. Expandable wooden tables come in as many varieties as the people who furnish their homes with them. Here are some of the choices you have. 

Shape

Wooden tables come in many shapes. Depending on your needs, you might choose a round, oblong, rectangular, or square table. 

King Arthur famously chose a round table so that no one would be seated at the head. But if your main goal is to seat as many people as possible, round tables are also a great choice. Since they have no corners, there's no wasted space where you can't seat someone. 

That said, round tables can be awkward to place in a room. The benefit of a square or rectangular table is that it can be pushed up against a wall if you need extra space for something else. This is especially useful for multi-purpose rooms. 

Size

When you choose a solid wood expandable dining table, you'll make multiple choices about its size. 

First, you'll choose the size you want the table to be without any leaves. This is the smallest that the table will be. Then, you'll decide how many leaves you want to add to it. 

If you need maximum flexibility, choose a smaller table that you can add more leaves to. Also, in some cases, you may be able to purchase additional leaves down the road if you need a bigger table. This will give you flexibility if your family expands and you need more space. 

Stain

In addition to choosing the type of wood, shape, and size of your table, you'll also choose the stain you want. Stains can range from a light tan color to a deep red, to a dark brown that almost looks black. 

To choose the right stain for your table, consider how it will work with the rest of your decor. For instance, if you have light colored cabinetry and floors, you might want to go with a light stain to coordinate. Or, you might choose a darker color to create contrast. 

Also, keep in mind how the color will work with your family's lifestyle. For instance, if you have children, you'll want to choose a table that can hold up to their messes. A darker colored table won't reveal stains that your kids might cause with juice or markers. 

If you're having difficulty choosing a stain, consider ordering hardwood stain samples and see how they look in your dining room with your other furniture.