Buying Guide

i) At Rural Art, we offer a comprehensive guide to dining room furniture that caters to both traditional dining rooms and versatile dining spaces in various design styles and decors. Our collection includes meticulously crafted dining tables, sturdy wood dining chairs, and beautifully designed sideboards, all made by expert artisans using time-honored techniques and modern applications. We prioritize the use of superior materials, such as intricate-grain hardwoods, hand-wrought iron hardware, and hand joinery, ensuring the finest quality in our dining furniture.

Furthermore, we are committed to promoting a healthy home and environment by producing eco-friendly furniture made from sustainable materials. Our dining tables, chairs, and buffets are crafted from responsibly harvested hardwoods, finished with natural stains and wood preparations. We strive to provide an affordable price range that accommodates various budgets, allowing you to create an inviting and beautiful dining environment. Additionally, we offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee and have a dedicated customer support team to assist you with any inquiries or concerns.

ii) Dining Sets

Our dining sets are an excellent solution for furnishing your dining room, offering preconfigured arrangements that cater to different dimensions, styles, and components. Each dining set includes a table, chairs, and/or benches, providing a complete dining solution for your home. By exploring the various components that make up a dining set, you can discover the options available to you.

Materials 

Rural Art dining sets are constructed using sustainable hardwoods such as Rosewood, Mango, Teak, and Acacia woods. These materials are finished with eco-friendly stains or made from responsibly reclaimed wood, giving them an age-worn finish. All tables, chairs, and benches in our dining sets are meticulously handcrafted by skilled craftspeople, employing centuries-old techniques such as hand-joinery and hand-wrought iron processes. Our commitment to quality ensures that each piece in our dining sets is built to withstand frequent use and become a cherished heirloom in your home.

For a casual setting with a rustic or country style, salvaged wood with warm wood finishes is durable and suitable for high-traffic kitchen and dining spaces, making them ideal for families or frequent entertainers. For formal traditional and transitional spaces, dining sets made from fine-grained wood with rich, dark finishes add an elegant touch to the dining room.

Tables

Selecting the ideal dining table depends on your lifestyle and décor preferences. For those who enjoy daily meals at the dining table and have a more casual lifestyle, warm wood with medium or large grain or salvaged wood tables in round or square shapes work well. For those with a formal lifestyle and frequent entertaining, fine-grained wood in a rich finish and rectangular or oval shapes are perfect choices. Consider the following factors when choosing a dining table:

Shape

Dining tables are available in various shapes, including square, rectangular, oval, and round tables that seat two to twelve guests. The shape of your room should dictate the shape of the table you choose. Rectangular or oval tables work best for rectangular spaces, while square or round tables are suitable for square or near-square spaces. Once you determine the shape of your table, you can consider the size that fits your room.

Size

Choosing a dining table requires considering the available space in your room. Measure your space and follow these guidelines to determine the size of the dining table that can comfortably fit:

• Leave a minimum of 36 inches between the walls and the edge of the table.
• Ideally, aim for 42-48 inches of space if possible, allowing for daily dining and intimate gatherings.
• For larger rooms, consider extension tables or tables with leaves to accommodate larger groups during occasional entertaining.

Base

Table base types include trestle, pedestal, four-leg, and recessed designs, available in various décor

Choosing the perfect dining chairs for your dining room can often be a challenging decision. In our dining sets, we have pre-selected chairs that are specifically designed to fit the dimensions and style of the table flawlessly. Our dining set chairs consist of armchairs and side chairs. Armchairs are typically placed at the ends of the dining table, while side chairs are positioned on the sides to accommodate a larger number of diners. Here are some key factors to consider when selecting the ideal dining chair to complement your table:

1. Styles: Our dining chairs come in a variety of styles, including ladderback, lattice, x-style, flute, and rolled style backs. These styles cater to various decor styles, ranging from Mission to Contemporary to Old World. The chair legs, feet, and bases are meticulously crafted in different styles such as tapered, saber, hand-turned, multi-stretcher, and x-style, adding beauty and elegance to the overall design.

• Ladderback chairs are more casual and suit country, rustic, and casual dining rooms.
• X-style chairs provide a contemporary vibe and are a great fit for modern and contemporary settings.
• Flute and rolled styles tend to be more formal and work well in semi-formal and formal dining spaces.

2. Leg and Base Styles: Matching the style of chair legs to the table base creates a sense of continuity. However, some styles can be mixed and matched to create interesting combinations. For example, a trestle base table pairs nicely with hand-turned, four-leg chairs, while saber-style chair legs complement a slender pedestal-style table. If you have a heavier build, chairs with multiple stretchers and substantial legs provide optimal support.

3. Side Chairs vs Armchairs: Both side chairs and armchairs are commonly used in dining rooms. Side chairs offer flexibility and mobility, making them ideal for accommodating more diners. For square and round tables, side chairs create an intimate setting and offer functional seating. Armchairs, on the other hand, work best when placed at the ends of rectangular or oval tables, adding a touch of formality to the dining environment.

4. Size: The number and size of dining chairs you need will depend on the size of your dining table. To ensure optimal function and guest comfort, consider the following guidelines:

• Between chairs: Allow a minimum of 24 inches of table surface between guests, or ideally up to 30 inches for more elbow room. Leave an additional 12 inches of space at the head and foot of the table. Armchairs require an extra 2 inches of space.
• Behind chairs: Leave at least 24 to 28 inches of space behind each chair, considering the depth of the dining chairs. The depth of the chairs should measure between 16 to 17 inches for optimal comfort.
• Seat height: Provide 12 to 14 inches of space from the seat height to the tabletop for maximum comfort. Dining chairs typically range from 17 to 20 inches in height.
• Armchair arm height: Ensure that the arms of the armchairs clear the bottom of the table apron, allowing guests to comfortably pull up to the table. The arms should ideally be between 7 to 9 inches above the seat for the best design.

5. Benches: Dining benches offer a delightful alternative to traditional armchairs or side chairs, particularly in dining spaces frequently used by families with children. Benches have a more casual and less formal feel, making them ideal for dining rooms and eat-in kitchens that experience daily use.

• Leg style: While dining benches typically have a rectangular shape, the style of legs and bases can vary significantly. You'll find classic and modern looks with trestle, four-legged, contemporary recessed, splayed-leg, and x-style bases. Four-legged styles offer ample legroom, making them suitable for tighter dining spaces.

6. Configurations: Dining sets also feature various configurations with chairs and benches, such as:

• Two long benches flanking a rectangular dining table with two armchairs placed at either end.
• A single bench positioned along one side of the table with side chairs on the other side.
• Four short benches arranged on each side of a square table.

By considering these factors, you can select the perfect dining chairs and benches to complement your dining table and create a stylish and functional dining space

iii) Buffets & Sideboards/Storage Cabinets/Hutches

For homes where built-in storage is minimal, versatile dining buffets, sideboards, storage cabinets and hutches are the answer. These hardworking pieces come in a range of styles, materials and configurations to fit today’s occasional or oft-used dining rooms and dining spaces.

Size

It is best to keep the proportions of the buffet or hutch in relation to the table and room. Avoid large, substantial or ornate pieces in small dining spaces, and alternately, feel free to introduce them in large open dining rooms. Width is also a factor—be sure to allow the same room between the sideboard and the chairs as you would the chairs and the walls, so guests can be sit and rise comfortably.

Buffets & Sideboards

A classic piece for the dining room, buffets and sideboards offer both interior storage and exterior serving or décor capacity. They come in may styles from traditional to rustic to minimalist to fit a myriad of decors.

Storage Elements: Most often interior storage is provided through doored cabinets, with or without shelves, and drawers, with or without partitions. This storage area offers stash space for tableware, serving dishes, linens and more. The top of the buffets offer ample surface space for serving dishes and beverages for entertaining. For those who entertain often or enjoy huge holiday gatherings, choose a buffet with a large top surface will allow for maximum serving space.

Hutches

Made from a range of fine hardwoods, our hutches make a smart addition to the dining room or multi-purpose space. Most often configured with doored or open display space above a set of solid doored cabinets or drawers below, these dining cabinets offer ample storage with a stylish repose. Classic style hutches often have glass doors opening onto shelves for displaying fine china, collectibles or other coveted heirlooms. Handwrought iron hardware and fittings add a finishing touch to our high-quality hutches.

Storage Cabinets

These highly functional pieces offer ample stash space where needed. They come in low, mid and high profile designs and varying widths to fit any space. Doored cubbies and cabinets offer space to store dining related supplies from tablecloths, party supplies, serving dishes and more. Each of our storage cabinets is hand-crafted from superior hardwood sustainably harvested and expertly made. For those who entertain or have a large collection of tableware, a storage cabinet offers the most functional choice.

iv) Dining Room Collection

As the heart and soul of the home, the dining room is a central place where family and guests gather to share about their day and linger over a tasty home-cooked meal. Over the years, the dining room has evolved to speak to hectic, modern lifestyles from a specific four-walled room to now include multi-purpose spaces that include kitchen, dining and living rooms in one open space.

Our Dining Room Collection speaks to both the classic dining room and the combination dining/living space. Included in our collection are beautifully hand-crafted tables, chairs, benches, credenzas, hutches storage pieces, and dining sets rendered in versatile style to fit today’s dining spaces. Our dining furniture melds seamlessly with many styles including Early American, Mission, Arts & Crafts, Rustic, Minimalist, Modern and more.

Unique to our dining furniture collection is the sustainable hardwoods we use to construct each piece including Rosewood, with its dynamic wood grain and superior resistance; and Mango, Teak and Acacia woods, tropically-sourced and kiln dried for a beautiful appearance and durable nature. Our reclaimed wood pieces are salvaged responsibly and offer the rustic appearance of weathering and seasoning. Handwrought iron fittings and hardware further highlight our dining furniture for aesthetic and function.

Customization Service

Sierra Living allows you to bring home only dining furniture to suit your style and function. With that in mind, we offer a free customization service on any piece of furniture at no charge to our customers. You may choose from 8 finish Stain options at no extra charge and even ask for free samples before making a big purchase.

v) Care Instructions

Our craftspeople create each piece of our fine wood dining furniture for longevity making sure they realize their destiny as true heirloom pieces meant to last a lifetime and more. Fortunately, high quality furniture such as ours isn’t high maintenance. With a little care and mindfulness by the owners, the beauty and longevity of the furniture will last for years to come.

Our wood furniture is made from high quality hardwoods including Rosewood, which is extremely dense, durable and naturally resistant; Mango, a moderately hard and dense wood; Acacia, a very durable hard and tough wood; and Teak, one of the hardest, strongest most durable of all natural woods. While all the hardwoods we use are naturally strong and durable, we suggest caring for and maintaining Rural Art wood furniture frequently and in the following ways:

Cleaning

Your dining furniture has a hand-waxed finish and should be cleaned and maintained as naturally as possible. Daily cleaning after meals and frequent maintenance dustings and wipe downs will preserve the wood’s beauty while allowing it to age and patina naturally over time. Avoiding caustic cleaners is highly recommended to avoid damage and wear to the wood’s surface. We recommend cleaning in the following ways:

1) For cleaning after meals, clean first with a damp cloth, then follow with a dry, lint-free cloth.

2) Clean spills immediately by blotting with a clean damp cloth, for tough spills a mild detergent can be used. Follow with a dry, lint-free cloth.

3) Frequent dusting with a soft, dry cloth or feather duster is recommended.

4) Avoid chemical harsh chemical cleaning and polishing products including those containing bleach, scouring agents, silicone and oil base.

Sunlight & UV Exposure

For dining spaces with large windows, note that exposing wood furniture to strong unfiltered sunlight can cause dis-coloring and fading over time. Avoid placing furniture close to or under uncovered windows.

Humidity, Moisture & Temperature

While wood can withstand moderate fluctuations in temperature and humidity levels, the solid hardwood used for constructing our dining furniture can become damaged when left in extreme heat or cold environments, or when situated closely to radiators, fireplaces, air conditioning units and heating and cooling vents. Avoid prolonged exposure to moisture as it will cause permanent damage to the wood.

Avoid Damage to Finish

Liquids containing oils or solvents can damage wood finishes. Avoid placing nail polish, potpourri, perfume or hair products around or on table surfaces. Materials such as plastic, vinyl, rubber and cork can cause damage to some wood finishes. Use prolonged exposure when placing cell phones and electronics on tabletops.

Tabletop Décor

Rotate decorative accessories and other items periodically to avoid tabletops from uneven aging and wear of the surface. Do not drag items across the wood tops to avoid scarring and scratching.

Moving Your Furniture

When moving furniture about the room, lift tables and chairs up and carry over to new location, do not drag or scoot furniture as this can cause damage to legs and base of furniture.