Laminate and resin table tops

A lunch room that turns its tables four times before two o'clock wants a top that takes a damp cloth and a hot plate without fuss. These 25 tops are laminate, resin and melamine, in squares, rounds, rectangles and drop-leaf shapes. Choose the size by party first, then the edge and color that sit well with the chairs.

What the surfaces are

Twelve tops here are laminate and twelve are resin, with a single melamine top alongside. The resin table tops page holds the full resin group, including more that list patio use. One resin tabletop in black marble finish brings the look of stone to a bar or a lounge where a real slab would be more than the room needs.

Indoor use is listed on every top here. Six also carry a patio listing; check each before it goes outside.

Shapes for a room that turns

Squares lead with 18 listings, rectangles and rounds follow with 17 each, and five come in a drop-leaf shape. That spread suits a dining hall or a casual restaurant where the floor is rebuilt for each service. Two squares pushed together make a table for four; a drop leaf opens a deuce for a third guest.

For sizing, start with the parties you seat most. Plates for two fit on 30 by 30. Four guests want a square of 36 inches or a 42-inch circle, and five or six gather at a 48-inch circle.

Dining halls and campus rooms tend to keep a few spare tops in storage. A top that cracks or scorches mid-semester can then be swapped the same afternoon, and the reorder can go in calmly, matched to the sample on file.

Color, edge and the rest of the room

Color lists change over time. If the room is already furnished and you are adding tops, ask for a free table top material sample and match it in daylight and at night before the order goes in. The edge is the part chair backs meet all night, so choose it with the chairs in mind; configurable table tops lets you set it yourself.

Prices for a single top sit between $38 and $240. For the warmth of real timber in a club dining room, see wood table tops; for stone, granite table tops. Then pair each top with its base, top by top, in venue plans, where the dining room and the private room can each keep their own color.