Our grandmother bought them with shiny laminate covers and chrome trim. The chairs blended perfectly with the gloss-infused vinyl and mid-century style. Our moms bought them in a vintage-perfect Early American-style maple-over-pine finish. Regardless of its appearance, the kitchen table set was the center of our homes.

Today, options abound when it comes to outfitting your eat-in kitchen. You have a plethora of sizes, shapes, styles, and materials to choose from.

One of your first considerations is the size of your kitchen. If it’s designed to be an eat-in kitchen and you have plenty of room for the kitchen table set, you’re spoiled for choice. But if you only have one corner to fill, you can still make it work. Please measure carefully to see what size table it will fit. Be sure to consider the space you’ll need to pull the chairs out from the table; three feet from the edge of the table is a good rule of thumb.

How many people usually sit around your table? If you live alone or if you’re a couple, you can probably get a small bistro table and a couple of chairs. If you’re seating a larger family or regularly make room for a few extra people, a round or oval table can allow you to accommodate an extra chair, since they don’t have corners. And you can choose the height of the table: it can be standard height, counter height, or a tall pub-height table. Look at your space and try to visualize the table on different levels. One style may be more attractive than the others.

After deciding on the size and shape of the table, you can start looking for your kitchen table set. This is where your sense of style and personal preferences come into play. Do you have a traditional decoration? Looking for a Shaker, Country, Victorian, Mid-Century Modern, Scandinavian, Mission, or European design? You can find a wide variety of wooden games in various finishes. If you want to add a natural material to your kitchen, you can select a kitchen table set with a marble, granite, tile or slate top. Some designs integrate stone with wood for an attractive look.

A perennial favorite is a glass table. You can find glass top kitchen table set with stylish metal base, solid wood base and woven rattan base. Choose a kitchen table set with a base in a material that matches your décor, but using a glass top keeps the look light and open.

It is difficult to separate the choice of table chairs from the kitchen table set. The price of most sets includes the chairs, but you can often purchase the table and chairs separately. If you prefer not to have a complete matching set, consider purchasing a matching set of chairs instead of a matching set. This way, you can have the look, fit, and comfort of a custom set.

While the table takes up most of the floor space, the chairs are where you sit. For comfort, you should try out the chairs that go with the kitchen table set you select before you buy. Many sets come with wooden chairs. Selecting chairs with upholstered seats gives you built-in comfort, but you have the option of adding chair pads to a wooden seat. Chairs come with and without armrests; armrests provide additional comfort but take up more space.

Whatever you choose, you’ll find that your new kitchen table set will become the center of your home.