Richmond Collection Room by Room: Dining Tables and Bench Seating

Most furniture ranges are put together bedroom first, then stretched outward until something fits the dining room. Richmond runs the other way. Of the twenty seven pieces in the range, twelve are dining tables or complete settings and four are benches, the only dining benches Cedora makes.

This is a look at how the range works room by room, what the timber actually is, and which table size suits which household.

Key Takeaways

• Two table sizes: 190cm seats six, 240cm seats eight.
• The legs are solid oak, the structure behind them is pine.
• Richmond is the only Cedora range with dining benches, in 158cm and 208cm.
• Benches sit 300mm below the tabletop, so they tuck fully underneath.
• Every piece comes in Natural or Black except the end table, which is Natural only.

Built Around the Table, Not Around a Look

The construction stays the same the whole way through the range. The legs are solid oak, the structure behind them is pine, and every piece stands on a closed timber loop at each end instead of four separate posts. That one detail is what makes the range readable from across a room. The same shape repeats at table height, at bench height and again at coffee table height, so two pieces bought months apart still look like they arrived together.

Know what that focus means before you start. Richmond will not furnish a bedroom. What it does cover is the dining room and the living areas beside it, which is the right trade if that part of the house is the part working hardest. The Richmond range extends outward from the table rather than trying to reach every room.

It also means the range is easy to buy in stages. A household that starts with the table and two pairs of chairs can add the bench the following winter and the sideboard the year after, and nothing will look like an afterthought, because the leg frame and the timber do not change between pieces. That matters more than it sounds when a dining room is furnished on the budget of a family rather than the budget of a showroom.

Two Table Sizes, Two Kinds of Household

There are two tables and the gap between them is deliberate. The Richmond Pine Dining Table 190cm measures W1,900 x D900 x H760 (mm) and seats six, which suits a family of four with room for grandparents on a Sunday. The Richmond Pine Dining Table 240cm measures W2,400 x D1,000 x H760 (mm) and seats eight, the size you buy when the house has become the one everybody drives to.

The extra 100mm of depth on the larger table matters more than the length does. At 1,000mm across you can run serving dishes down the centre and still leave every place setting its own space. Before you choose, measure the floor rather than the table, and leave enough clearance behind the chairs for someone to walk past while another person is seated.

Four people who host twice a year should take the smaller table and keep the floor space. Anyone regularly setting eight places will tire of dragging in extra chairs, and the larger table pays for itself in the first summer of visitors.

Richmond Pine Dining Table 190cm - Natural

The Bench, and Why It Disappears

The bench is the piece no other Cedora range has. It comes in two lengths matched to the two tables: the Richmond Pine Dining Bench 158cm at W1,580 x D400 x H460 (mm) seats up to three, and the Richmond Pine Dining Bench 208cm at W2,080 x D400 x H460 (mm) seats up to four. Both sit 300mm below the tabletop, which means they slide back under the table completely when lunch is finished.

That is what changes a small dining room. On an ordinary Saturday the bench is pushed in and the floor reads as open again, with no chair backs breaking the sightline to the kitchen. Then somebody arrives without warning at midday, three children shuffle along and a fourth person fits on the end, which four separate chairs cannot do. The trade off is honest: a bench has no back, so long sittings get tiring, and most households run a bench down one side and chairs on the other.

It also has a second life outside the dining room. At 400mm deep it sits along a hallway wall or under a window without narrowing the path past it, which makes it somewhere to put shoes on, or a surface for folded washing waiting to be carried through.

Richmond Pine Dining Bench 208cm - Natural

Chairs, or the Whole Setting in One Order

Chairs are sold in pairs as the Richmond Pine Dining Chair Set of 2, measuring W510 x D620 x H880 (mm) each, with an upholstered seat and back on timber legs. Buying in twos is more useful than it sounds, because a dining room is rarely finished in one purchase. Four chairs cover most homes, and another pair goes in later when the household grows.

If you would rather not assemble the room piece by piece, four settings are already matched and priced together. The 190cm table comes with six chairs, or with four chairs and the 158cm bench. The 240cm table comes with eight chairs, or with four chairs and the 208cm bench. Ordering the setting removes the two things that go wrong when pieces are bought separately: finishes that do not quite agree, and half the room arriving three weeks after the rest.

One practical note. At 880mm to the top of the back, the chairs stand well above the 760mm table, so from the doorway you see chair backs before you see the table, and six of them in a small room is a lot of upright timber. That is why the bench settings suit narrow spaces, since half the seating drops out of the sightline.

Richmond Pine Dining Table 190cm with 4 chairs & Bench 158cm - Natural

What Sits Around the Table

The storage pieces are built to the same width so the room lines up. The Richmond Pine 2 Door 3 Drawer Sideboard is W1,600 x D450 x H650 (mm) and the Richmond Pine 2 Drawer TV Unit shares that 1,600mm width and 450mm depth at a lower H550 (mm). Where the dining and living areas share a wall, that repetition is what stops the room looking like two separate purchases pushed together.

The sideboard is the piece that changes how the dining room runs. Three drawers take the cutlery, placemats and candles that otherwise live in the kitchen, and the cupboards take the serving dishes that come out four times a year. Setting the table stops being a trip back and forth, and the top becomes where the food waits while everyone sits down.

The smaller pieces cover the gaps. The Richmond Pine 2 Drawer Console Table is W1,200 x D380x H825 (mm), shallow enough for a hallway people still walk down and tall enough to sit behind a sofa rather than beside it. The Richmond Pine Coffee Table at W1,200 x D600 x H450 (mm) carries the same closed leg frame as the dining table, and the Richmond Pine End Table, W550 x D500 x H550 (mm), is the one piece made in Natural only.

Richmond Pine 2 Door 3 Drawer Sideboard - Natural

What the Timber Is, and Which Finish to Take

It is worth being exact about the material, because oak is a word that gets used loosely. In Richmond the oak is in the legs, solid, where the load sits. The structure behind it is pine. This is not a solid oak slab and it is not priced like one, and knowing that before you buy beats discovering it after delivery. What the combination gives you is a table that takes daily use on the parts that get knocked, at a price a family can justify.

The finish does more to a room than the size does. Natural keeps a small or south-facing space feeling open, since the timber carries light rather than absorbing it. Black draws the outline of the piece and gives a bright room something to settle on, which works well against pale floorboards. Because the shapes are identical across both, a black 240cm table with a natural sideboard reads as a decision, not an accident.

The two finishes also age differently. Pine is softer than oak, so surfaces pick up the marks of a household that uses them, and black shows dust more readily than natural while hiding small dents better. If you want a table that still looks untouched in five years, that is a different purchase. Placemats under hot dishes and a dry cloth for spills covers the rest.

Richmond Pine Dining Table 240cm - Black

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people does a Richmond dining table seat?

The 190cm table seats six and the 240cm table seats eight. Each Richmond chair is 510mm wide, so the 190cm table takes two chairs down each long side with one at either end, and the 240cm table takes three a side on the same principle.

Does the Richmond bench fit under the table?

Yes. Both benches are 460mm high against a 760mm tabletop, so there is 300mm of clearance and the bench slides fully underneath when it is not in use. That is what gives a small dining room its floor space back between meals.

Is Richmond furniture solid oak?

No, and it is worth being clear about it. The legs are solid oak, where the load sits, and the structure behind them is pine. Richmond is not a solid oak slab and it is not priced like one.

What sizes do the Richmond dining benches come in?

Two. The 158cm bench measures W1,580 x D400 x H460 (mm) and seats up to three, and the 208cm bench measures W2,080 x D400 x H460 (mm) and seats up to four. Each is matched to one of the two table lengths.

Can I buy the Richmond table and chairs together?

Yes. Four settings are already matched and priced together: the 190cm table with six chairs, the 190cm table with four chairs and the 158cm bench, the 240cm table with eight chairs, and the 240cm table with four chairs and the 208cm bench.