Do all 10 chairs need to be at table all the time or can it be 8 chairs and 2 you bring over from somewhere else for large sit downs? DIAL UP YOUR CHAIR sizes to be proportional to table so, as to not look like child size chairs. Restoration Hardware furniture is over sized and generous proportions compared to many other retail sellers. Just any chair could be easily dwarfed by the RH table and look tiny. Here are a couple of my favorite modern chair makers KNOLL Brno flat bar chair which can be bought at auction and recovered in leather or vinyl of your choice and David Edward Furniture made for corporate, resort and colleges and available through dealers, I am showing here as a "host chair". Other "host" chair items possible of course. I just like this one.

If you have long dinners, they are not particularly comfortable. I gave away a set years ago. Ok for quick meals.

Sorry, can't quite visualize the juxtaposition. A couple of pictures or a floor plan would help. What kind of a gap are you referring to? 15 x 12' ish is a fair size room. Are there any windows in that space? Do you need another bedroom, a crafts room, bathroom with walk in closet, office/study, library / family room, studio? What are your interests? Personally I would love to have extra space for a painting studio and or some where of my own just to relax and meditate, do yoga etc.!

We finished our antique island bench, which was originally the haberdashery counter from David Jones in Newcastle, with a burnishing oil. The surface proudly bears the markers of it's history as the timber was too soft and thin to strip back any further than we have, but the burnishing process has protected it from every day wear and tear including water spills and the rough and tumble that our four boys dish out to every piece of furniture in the house, it also gives it a beautiful shine. We have finished our dining room table the same way. Kitchen dresser and the sides of the island bench that don't get the same use are finished with beeswax.