I thought a round table was the obvious choice for a small dining space, since there's no corner sticking out to bruise your hip on. What I got wrong was assuming any round table would fit any round room. I bought one that looked perfect online and it turned out to leave about fourteen inches of walking space on two sides and almost none on the other two, because the room wasn't actually square and I'd measured it like it was.
Here's what I'd do differently, and what I tell anyone asking now. Measure the narrowest point of the room, not the widest, and leave at least 36 inches from the table edge to the nearest wall or piece of furniture so chairs can pull out and people can walk behind someone sitting down. For seating, round tables need more diameter per person than you'd guess, figure about 24 to 28 inches of table edge for each place, so a 48 inch round comfortably seats four and starts to feel tight for six. The other thing nobody tells you is to check the base in person if you can. A pedestal base gives you real knee room for everyone, a four legged round table puts a leg right where someone's seat should be and you won't notice until you're hosting six people and two of them are straddling a table leg.
On wear, it depends almost entirely on the top. A solid wood top will show every ring and scratch in the first year and then settle into looking like it has a life, which I happen to like, but you have to wipe up wine and water fast and use coasters or it'll show rings sooner than you'd want. A veneer or laminate top resists all of that and cleans up with a damp cloth, but if it ever does get a deep scratch you're stuck looking at it forever instead of sanding it out. Either way, a table knows what's happened to it. Mine has a faint ring from a sweating glass pitcher on a Fourth of July about eight months after we moved in, and at this point I'd miss it if it disappeared.
If you're starting with nothing, go with a 42 to 48 inch round in a solid or solid feeling wood, on a pedestal base, nothing with leaves or extensions until you actually know you need the extra seating regularly. It covers four people easily, five in a pinch, and it won't feel like a decision you have to undo in two years.
Mine looks nothing like it did on delivery day. The color's warmed up, the surface has a soft, worn feel where hands rest and elbows lean, and every mark on it is attached to an actual evening I remember.
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