Cindy - Author
Here we share our types of table legs guide including furniture and style options such as square, fluted, trumpet, cabriole, shaker, and wegner. See the best choices for tables.
When shopping for a table, you may not have considered numerous table leg types and styles. Table legs range from the plainest, sturdy square leg to the gothic-looking spiral leg.
Table legs are not just to support the tabletop; they blend in to highlight the table or get as much attention as the tabletop’s design.
The style not only accents the table, but table legs styles fit each room’s design style.
Table Leg Styles
Any home has at least one table in most of its rooms; for example, a kitchen table, dining room table, coffee table, bedside table, vanity, or even a child-sized play table.
One of the most distinguishing parts of any table is its legs.
While most furniture stores offer pre-designed tables, some allow customers to create a custom-designed table by choosing the table’s top and the type of table legs.
While most people know the style table they want for each room, it can be confusing when it’s time to pick table legs.
This informative guide provides the many types of table legs, and each leg type’s interior design style goes well with.
Read this guide to learn about table leg styles to create a table to meet your design needs or purchase a pre-made table to fit your taste and style.
Square
Square table legs add clean lines to any tabletop creating a simple yet beautiful coffee table, bench, or dining room table. They also find their way into offices or industrial workplaces for their simplicity.
These modern-styled table legs typically come fitted with a pre-installed hanger bolt to attach the legs to the tabletop easily. Homeowners can choose from a rounded corner style or a squared corner.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Modern
• Industrial
• Contemporary
• Minimalist
• Modern Farmhouse
• Rustic
Fluted
This table leg is carved with a series of rounded grooves flowing vertically and spaced evenly.
Fluted table legs resemble ancient Greek columns, common in the neoclassical styles of the 18th century and early 19th century.
The fluted table leg style has a concave surface, rounded inward. It’s similar to reeded table legs that have a convex surface design, rounded outward.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Traditional
• Classic
• Shabby Chic
• French Country
• Mediterranean
Trumpet
Trumpet table legs are typically thick and have curves, flares, and a narrow foot to look like an upturned trumpet.
Common foot types for a trumpet table leg are ball, bun, or Spanish foot. This leg design includes a dome at the top, appearing as a mushroom shape connected to another flared connecting piece attached to the tabletop.
Trumpet table legs are also called trumpet-turned legs, as turning is used to create the design.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Baroque
• English Restoration
• Classic
• Mediterranean
Cabriole
The Cabriole table leg holds a timeless association with antique Queen Anne and Chippendale styles.
This style table leg has a knee that curves outward, flowing down to curve inward at the ankle. The leg then terminates at the foot, usually ornamental in style.
Chippendale furniture table legs feature a ball and claw foot, and Queen Anne table legs commonly have a pad foot. Many reproduction tables include other foot styles.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Traditional
• Eclectic
• Classic
• French Country
• Mediterranean
Shaker
The Shaker table leg is modeled on the furniture built by the Shakers living in New Hampshire.
These understated table legs are an excellent choice for smaller dining room and kitchen tables.
Shaker table legs start with a smaller diameter at the foot and thicken as they near the tabletop, making them very stable.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Southwestern
• Eclectic
• Modern
• Contemporary
• Minimalist
• Coastal Living
Wegner
A heavier tabletop may need strong table legs. The Wegner table legs are not only strong, but they’re attractive.
The modern Danish style includes a smooth finish tapering down from the top. Wegner table legs come straight for a clean and squared design and include two ways to attach them at the tabletop.
They can also be angled for an even more modern feel and style.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Mid-century Modern
• Modern
• Contemporary
• Retro
• Coastal Living
• Minimalist
Spiral
These table legs were designed after a 17th-century style of furniture popular in the 1660s to 1700s. They supported tables made in India, where the style caught on.
As these spiral table legs gained notoriety, they made their way to Europe, Portugal, Holland, and England. After making way for more contemporary table legs, spiral table legs made a comeback in the mid-19th century found on Victorian-style tables.
Spiral legs are also known as spiral-twist or barley-twist table legs.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Classic
• Victorian
• Traditional
Reeded
Reeded table legs are almost difficult to distinguish from fluted as they have a similar surface with grooves running vertically.
The evenly spaced, rounded indents are carved in a convex or rounded inward design. Reeded types of table legs appeared in ancient Greek and Roman design.
They became dominant in popularity in the 19th century when they passed fluted legs.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Traditional
• Classic
• Shabby Chic
• French Country
• Mediterranean
Tapered
Tapered table legs are any style of table leg that runs straight down vertically. The leg becomes thinner as it reaches the foot. Common styles for tapered table legs are straight, fluted, reeded, and spade.
Turned Legs
Turned table legs are created as they are rotated on a lathe. The turning is programmed to create shapes and nodules in a thick wood dowel.
The differing forms result from the lathe being raised up and down from the wood’s surface to outline a particular design.
Saber
Saber table legs are splayed, meaning each leg is cut at the top at an angle to cause the leg to flare out from the tabletop instead of standing straight. They also have a slight concave bend similar to a saber.
Saber table legs are round or square and taper down from the top, becoming thinner. Saber table legs are also known as splayed legs.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Traditional
• Modern
• Contemporary
• Minimalist
• Mid-century Modern
Flemish Scroll
A large scroll at the top and bottom of the leg recognizes a Flemish Scroll table leg. The scrolls typically point opposite from each other.
The Flemish Scroll table leg made its debut in the second part of the 17th century. They are often seen on Baroque-style tables. There are two types; double scroll legs and S-scroll legs.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Traditional
• Classic
• Mediterranean
• Baroque
• Victorian
Hepplewhite
Hepplewhite table legs are plain and straightforward and have nondescript feet. They are a graceful and classy table leg that works well in Modern Farmhouse and Mid-Century decor.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Modern
• Mid-Century
• Modern Farmhouse
• Minimalist
• Contemporary
Marlborough
A Marlborough table leg is typically square and straight with very little design. This is among the different types of table legs that have a block foot and can be footless due to the width and strength of the leg.
Some Marlborough table legs have a bit of fluting or a slight taper. They make a clean table leg that works for simple interior design styles.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Mid-Century Modern
• Modern Farmhouse
• Minimalist
• Classic
Spider
Spider-styled table legs are thin and curved. They flare off a tabletop center post in a group of three or four legs.
The curve starts at the center post and makes almost a 45 degree short turn downward that flares out to the floor. This table leg style originated in the late 18th-century and into the 19-century.
Another version of spider legs is straight and used on gatefold tables so the table can easily swing out.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Mediterranean
• Modern Farmhouse
• Traditional
• Classic
• Mid-Century Modern
Hairpin
The hairpin table leg is made with a contemporary look and is commonly made with steel.
The leg is a solid piece of thin and light metal that’s rounded at the bottom with two sides vertically rising to meet the tabletop.
Both sides flare out, giving it a hairpin look. The minimalist design of these table legs creates a Mid-Century Modern style.
Compatible with These Design Styles:
• Mid-Century Modern
• Minimalist
• Contemporary
• Classic
• Modern
Adjustable Legs
Adjustable table legs can add up to 4” or more to a tabletop structure. This adjustable leg is great for a work table, game room table, craft room table, or shared workstation.
Height adjustable legs are as sturdy as non-adjustable table legs and remain stable even after many height adjustments. Height adjustment table legs come in several configurations.
• Folding legs are seen on long utility tables.
• Zoom table legs are common for shared office desks.
• A bolt-down height adjustable table leg is typically the center post for restaurant and public dining room tables.
• Adjustable peninsula legs are not made for a free-standing table. They’re made for workbenches that need to be lowered or raised when working on a project.
With these types of table legs, you should be able to choose an appropriate table for your home to fit most designs. They are often constructed from lightweight materials like plastic or aluminum, making them effective for easy installation as a base for different table tops.
See more related content in our article about the different types of furniture styles on this page.
