The Giorgetti dining table, Ago in walnut or Yuan in ash.

A Giorgetti dining table is a woodworker's piece first. The company started in 1898 in Meda as an artisan woodworking shop, and its tables still show it. In the catalogue we quote, two dining tables stand out: Ago by Carlo Colombo, with legs of Canaletto walnut, and Yuan, a newer table framed in solid ash. This guide compares them and gives you the numbers to size either one for your room.

Ago: a needle for a leg.

Ago means needle in Italian, and Carlo Colombo shaped the legs to match. They are solid Canaletto walnut and taper toward the floor, which keeps the table light to look at even with a stone top.

The top comes in two families of material. You can pick any of the marbles in the collection, or plywood veneered and edged in solid Canaletto walnut. The Ago family also includes coffee tables, round, oval and square, with a walnut structure and a top insert in Calacatta, Portoro, Zebrino, purple Calacatta or Grigio astratto marble, or in glass in four shades of gray. A dining table and a coffee table from the same family tie the two ends of an open plan room together. See the Ago collection.

Yuan: ash, pau ferro and a void.

Yuan frames its top in solid ash, finished in one of four colors: natural, anthracite gray, biscuit or ash gray. Inside the frame you choose a matching ash surface or a marble top. Small inlays of pau ferro, the exotic wood Giorgetti names among its own, mark the corners.

The legs give Yuan its character. Each one is an L shape with a void cut into it, so the corner of the table looks open. You can have the legs in solid ash, in Pelle Plus or Pelle Satin leather, or in Antico Impasto Romano with tea leaves. Giorgetti makes Yuan in several sizes and shapes, round and rectangular, including a size for the tea ceremony that also takes an Antico Impasto Romano top. See the Yuan collection.

The Yuan family adds a lounge chair in solid ash. Pair it with the dining table, which stands 74 cm high, and Giorgetti gives the chair a 5 cm base of solid ash so the two line up.

Seat count first, size second.

Decide how many people you seat on an ordinary night and how many at a holiday meal. Size the table for the first number, and plan where the extra chairs come from for the second.

Budget 24 inches of top per guest for a tight dinner and 30 when you want elbow room. Between the chair backs and the wall, 36 inches of floor lets people get up without a shuffle; allow more if someone serves from behind the seats.

Round, oval or rectangular.

A round table suits four to six people and a square room. Each guest can see the others, and no one ends up at a corner. Yuan comes in a round version.

A long table suits a long room and larger groups, and it lines up with a sideboard or a window. Yuan comes rectangular, and Ago comes as a long oval with a marble top.

For an open plan space, a round table under a pendant lamp marks the dining zone without a wall.

Marble or wood on top.

Marble tops take a heavy pan or a vase without complaint, but acidic spills like wine, lemon or vinegar can mark them. Wipe spills at once and use coasters and placemats. Wood tops feel warmer under your hands and age with use; they need coasters for hot dishes and a soft cloth for crumbs. We will cover marble care in its own story.

Seats for Yuan and Ago.

Giorgetti builds dining chairs as well, and we will cover Hero and Tie in a later story. For Yuan, the lounge chair on its 5 cm base is the house pairing. For Ago, pick a chair whose wood or metal picks up the walnut of the legs.

Price and lead time.

Giorgetti builds both tables to order in Meda, and the top drives the price: a marble slab costs more than a veneered one, and a large top more than a small one. Giorgetti confirms the sizes on offer and the lead time with each quote.

Write in the form below how many people you seat, the size of the room and the top you prefer. Our answer names the Ago or Yuan sizes that suit it, the finishes Giorgetti makes for that top, and a price.