How to Choose the Perfect Garden Table for Outdoor Dining

A well-chosen garden table can transform your outdoor space into an elegant extension of your home. It becomes the place where family gathers, friends linger over long meals, or you simply sit alone with a book and a glass in hand. Teak enhances this experience like no other material — a wood that blurs the boundary between indoors and outdoors, enriching both with its beauty and resilience.

Few materials serve the outdoors as beautifully as teak. With its high natural oil content and dense grain, it resists rot, pests, and the extremes of weather, while developing a graceful silver-grey patina over time. Unlike lesser timbers, it remains smooth, strong, and inviting to the touch in every season. A teak dining table is not just functional; it sets the stage for al fresco living.

Here are the key considerations when choosing the right one for your garden.

1. Space and Setting

Begin with the setting. Measure your patio or garden carefully and imagine how you want to use the space. Allow at least 90cm of clearance around the table for ease of movement. For dining, a comfortable guide is 60–90cm per person. With this clarity, your choice becomes more intuitive.

2. Shape and Style

The form of your table should complement both your space and your lifestyle.

Round or oval tables create intimacy and inclusiveness, making them ideal for patios and smaller gardens while still offering versatility for gatherings.

Rectangular tables lend themselves to larger parties and longer dining areas, becoming a bold focal point for entertaining.

Square tables combine symmetry with practicality, offering balance and contemporary elegance.

3. Extendable Flexibility

For those who love to entertain, an extending teak table is a thoughtful investment. It adapts seamlessly to the occasion, whether it’s an impromptu supper for four or a celebratory feast for twelve.

4. Chairs and Companions

Your chairs need not be identical to your table. Some of the most inviting spaces mix textures and tones. What matters is harmony: each piece should feel part of a considered whole, reflecting your personal style while ensuring comfort.

5. Grade of Teak

True quality lies at the heart of the wood. At Chic Teak, we use only Grade A heartwood from the core of mature trees. Rich in natural oils, it resists rot and requires no artificial treatment. Many suppliers disguise lesser grades with stains or paints, but only Grade A offers the enduring strength and natural sheen that improves with age.

6. Craftsmanship and Detail

Examine the joinery. The finest tables use traditional mortice and tenon joints, precision-machined for a lifetime of strength. For shaded dining, a neatly crafted parasol hole may also prove invaluable.

Outdoor Dining, the Chic Teak Way

For over a quarter of a century, Chic Teak has specialised in creating furniture that endures both in quality and in beauty. Every dining table is made exclusively from sustainably sourced, SVLK-certified Grade A teak, hand-finished by master craftsmen. Our designs are not just built for today’s gatherings but for decades of meals, conversations, and memories.

Visit our Hampshire showroom to see and feel the difference in person, or explore our collection online. Each piece carries a ten-year guarantee, complimentary mainland UK delivery by our own expert team, and the assurance that you are choosing furniture of lasting value.