A 900×700mm dining table is one of the most useful pieces of furniture you can build for a compact home. It fits comfortably in an apartment kitchen, a breakfast nook, or a small dining alcove — spaces where a standard 1800mm six-person table would be completely impractical. At 900mm long, two adults can sit opposite each other without their knees touching and with enough table surface for full place settings. At 700mm wide, there is room for a centrepiece, a salt and pepper shaker, and still enough clearance for two plates side by side. This guide takes you through the complete build, including a drop-leaf extension option that turns your two-person table into a four-person setup when you need it.
Why This Size Works
The standard ergonomic minimum for a place setting is 600mm wide × 400mm deep. Two people seated opposite each other need at minimum 700mm between them (elbows and serving dishes included). A 900×700mm table comfortably seats two people and just barely seats three in a pinch. More importantly, it fits in spaces where nothing larger will go: a 900mm table with a chair on each short end and a wall on the long side requires only about 1200mm of floor space — well within the footprint of a studio apartment kitchen.
Cut List
| Part | Qty | Dimensions (mm) | Material | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Table top boards | 4–5 | 900 × 140 × 19 | DAR pine or hardwood | Glue up to 700mm wide |
| Long apron pieces | 2 | 710 × 75 × 20 | DAR pine | Inside long dimension |
| Short apron pieces | 2 | 510 × 75 × 20 | DAR pine | Fits between long aprons |
| Legs (square) | 4 | 75 × 75 × 720 | DAR pine | 750mm finished table height |
| Top fasteners | 8 | — | Z-clips or figure-8 fasteners | Allow top movement |
Table height: Standard dining table height in Australia is 730–750mm. Using 720mm legs with a 19mm top gives a finished height of 739mm — right in the target range. Adjust leg length if your chairs are an unusual height (measure chair seat height and add 275–300mm for comfortable leg room).
Building the Table Top
Unless you have access to wide hardwood boards, you will glue up narrower boards to make the 700mm-wide top. For a pine top, use 5 boards of 140×19mm — the glued-up width with four 1mm glue joints will be approximately 704mm, which you can joint to exactly 700mm after the glue cures.
To glue up a flat top:
- Arrange the boards on a flat surface and alternate the growth ring direction on each board (look at the end grain — alternate so the rings curve up, then down, alternating). This minimises cupping as the timber moves seasonally.
- Apply PVA wood glue to both mating faces of each joint. Do not skimp — you want a full, even coating.
- Clamp the boards edge-to-edge using pipe clamps or sash clamps. You need at least three clamps for a 900mm-long top. Apply clamping pressure until glue squeezes out of every joint along the full length.
- Leave clamped for 1 hour minimum (4 hours for full strength). Scrape off excess glue while it is still rubbery with a cabinet scraper or old chisel.
- After unclamping, scrape and sand the top flat. An orbital sander with 80-grit followed by 120-grit is sufficient for pine. For hardwood, a hand scraper or a belt sander gives a flatter result.
Leg Options
Option 1: 75×75mm Square Pine Legs
The simplest option. Bunnings and most timber yards carry 75×75mm DAR pine in standard lengths. Cut to 720mm, chamfer or round the bottom edges to prevent splitting when the legs drag on floor, and sand to 180-grit. Square legs suit farmhouse, Scandi, and contemporary styles. Join to the apron using pocket holes (two per leg face, four total per leg joint) for the simplest construction, or with traditional mortise-and-tenon for a stronger, more traditional joint.
Option 2: Hairpin Legs
A three-rod hairpin leg in raw steel or powder-coated black suits industrial and mid-century modern aesthetics. Buy 710mm hairpin legs online (numerous AU suppliers on eBay, Etsy AU, or dedicated leg suppliers). They attach directly to the underside of the apron frame with the included mounting plate. No joinery required — just four screws per leg. The limitation: hairpin legs require a strong, rigid top frame because the legs themselves provide no lateral bracing. Add a diagonal brace between the legs on the long dimension if the table feels racking (wobbling side-to-side).
Option 3: Turned Legs
Pre-turned pine table legs are available at Bunnings in 710mm length (product code varies by state). They come with a pre-drilled hole in the top for a hanger bolt — a double-ended threaded fastener that screws into the leg and accepts a nut on the top, allowing the leg to be removed for flat-pack transport. The turned profile softens the look of a simple pine table enormously and suits traditional and French provincial styles.
Apron Joinery
Pocket Holes (Easiest)
Join the four apron pieces together at the corners using a pocket hole jig. This creates a rigid rectangular frame that holds the legs and supports the top. The joint takes about 5 minutes per corner. Use 50mm pocket screws with PVA glue on the mating faces. This is the correct method for a first table build — strong enough for a dining table, fast, and requires minimal tooling.
Mortise-and-Tenon (Traditional)
The traditional table joinery method: a tenon (a rectangular projection) on the end of each apron fits into a matching mortise (a rectangular pocket) in the leg face. A well-cut mortise-and-tenon joint is significantly stronger than pocket holes and will outlast the timber itself. The drawback: it requires either a router with a mortising jig, a bench chisel and significant practice, or a dedicated mortising machine. If you have a router table, this is worth learning. If not, use pocket holes for the first build and come back to mortise-and-tenon when you have more tool experience.
Attaching the Top
Do not glue or screw the top directly to the apron. Timber moves seasonally — a 700mm-wide pine top can expand and contract by 3–5mm across its width between winter and summer. Rigid fixing will cause the top to split or the apron joints to fail as the wood moves. Instead, use Z-clips (also called tabletop fasteners) or figure-8 fasteners. These attach to the inside face of the apron and slot into a groove routed or cut into the apron, holding the top down while allowing it to move. Install one every 200mm along the long aprons and one per short apron — approximately eight total.
Drop-Leaf Extension Option
A drop-leaf design uses a hinged extension panel on one or both long sides of the table. When dropped (folded down), the table remains compact. When raised, it expands the table to seat four people.
For a 900×700mm base table, add one 900×300mm leaf on each long side using a rule joint and piano hinge (the traditional method) or a simple butt joint with a piano hinge (the easier method). The rule joint is more refined — it creates an interlocking profile between the fixed top and the leaf so the hinge is concealed when the leaf is raised — but requires a router with a matching pair of rounding-over and cove bits.
The leaf is supported when raised by a swing-out leg: a short leg (the same height as the main legs) hinged to the underside of the fixed top and swung out to support the leaf. Simple pivot hardware from a hardware store handles the swing-out mechanism. When not needed, the support leg swings back parallel to the apron and the leaf drops against it.
With both leaves raised, the table becomes 900×1300mm — comfortably seats four adults for a full dinner service.
Finishing
Sand through 80, 120, and 180-grit. Wipe the entire table with a damp cloth to raise the grain, allow to dry, then sand again lightly with 220-grit — this prevents the grain from lifting again when you apply a water-based finish. Apply two coats of satin water-based polyurethane for a durable dining surface. For a more natural appearance, hardwax oil (Rubio Monocoat or Osmo Polyx) gives a beautiful penetrating finish that is easy to spot-repair if scratched.
The total material cost for this table is approximately $90–$130 in pine from Bunnings. In hardwood (blackbutt or spotted gum), expect $180–$240. Either way, it is a fraction of what a comparable table costs in a furniture store — and it is built to your exact dimensions.
Want More Furniture Plans?
If this dining table build has got you thinking about chairs, benches, or a matching sideboard, Ted’s Woodworking gives you access to over 16,000 detailed plans — with precise cut lists, hardware lists and step-by-step instructions. It is the most comprehensive plan library available for home woodworkers who want to keep building.
