Choosing a dining table that outlasts the dining room

The table you buy this year is likely the table your grandchildren will argue over. Here’s what matters most, in order: joinery, species, finish. Everything else is style.

Pick joinery first — mortise-and-tenon, breadboard ends, no staples anywhere. Pick a species that matches the life of your house — cherry for quiet rooms that see candlelight, oak for houses with kids and big dogs. Finish last. Oil-and-wax shows wear and invites repair. Conversion varnish is armor. Neither is wrong.