Having Trouble Choosing Boardroom and Meeting Tables?

At Verve Workspace, we are often called upon for advice from clients who are struggling to choose a suitable boardroom or meeting room table for their company.  At first, it might not sound too difficult to choose a suitable table, but there are thousands of different options that you could go for, and sometimes, the more choice you have, the more difficult the decisions become! So, where should you start?

Well, first of all, you should think about how many people you would generally need to fit around the table- this will give you a rough guide line on sizing.  Do you have a particular shape of table in mind?  Please be aware that different factories have different names for table shapes, so what most people may refer to as a 'barrel' shaped table may be a completely different shape to a factory- it is always best to clarify any ideas that you may have- even if you just do a very rough sketch to show what you mean.

An Elliptical Boardroom Table in a melamine finish, with
two glass inserts and cable management inserts.

Now, there are so many different materials that you can choose from for your table.  If you want a simple, cost-effective table, you could go for a table in a melamine finish.  Melamine finishes offer a lot of choice; they are carefully matched so that they look fantastic, and it is easy to acquire other furniture pieces in exactly the same finish so that everything matches.  

A barrel shaped veneer boardroom
table with  special veneer inlays.

If you are looking for a wooden finish, but want something more expensive, you could have a look at some real wood veneer boardroom tables.  With veneers, you can have a plain finish, but you could also add some special veneer detailing to make your table less generic.  

You could opt for a border around the table top in a contrasting veneer, or you could add special veneer inlays to the table top.  There are many standard shaped inlays, including the diamonds you see within the table top to the left, but you could also go for something more bespoke.  

Boardroom table with veneer inlay.

Of course, the pricing will change depending on these different options, so ask your furniture supplier to give you a range of different options along with pricing to see where you are, and which options suit you best.


You should also consider whether you will need to accommodate cable management within the 

the table.  Will staff be using laptops during the meetings?  

An example of flip top socket housing.

If so, then it might be important to incorporate power sockets and cable management options in to the table itself.  There are innumerable options available, including cable inserts, flip top socket housing, shuttle modules and cable splines.  These options are designed to offer cable and power management solutions which are subtle.  




If many external visitors will be using your meeting room, you might want to stun them with a beautiful glass boardroom table.  Now, it is rare to find glass boardroom tables which are manufactured solely in the UK- they more often come from countries like Italy, which means that they generally have longer lead times.  However, these glass tables are certainly worth the wait!
  

An etched glass boardroom table with silver legs.

You can opt for either a clear glass table top, or have other effects such as crackled or etched glass- these effects make people's legs much less visible when seated at the table, though choices like this can affect price.  Even things like the leg options on a table can have a big effect on price, so ask your furniture supplier to go through the types of leg options, and have a look at how things like that change the price.  


Good glass boardroom tables will be manufactured with high grade glass and will have specially engineered frames that are extremely strong.  These tables really are the 'creme de la creme' of the boardroom, and can suit almost any setting!  


Now that we've dealt with tables, you might want to look at other furniture for your boardroom- credenza storage units are particularly popular because you can easily incorporate mini bar fridges in to them.  Most boardroom table ranges will also offer complimenting furniture which will match your meeting table perfectly both in terms of style and finish.  We also have a fantastic variety of meeting room chairs on our website, at many different price points to suit your every need.  

Take a look at our online catalogue!

If you have any questions, or would like some advice on boardroom furniture, please don't hesitate to contact us on: 08450 69 79 89 and we'll be happy to help you.