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.

A glass dinning table with dark timber legs in a X cross look in the middle of table will be ideal . You can still see the beautiful floor tiles and the dark timber legs will look amazing over the grey tiles. Have full fabric greyish brown chairs with same leg as the table.

Thanks for taking the time to answer. What a mistake. I never imagined that there would be such a variation between table & chair heights. That one slipped by me. I don't think budget is going to stretch to 8 new chairs after we just unpacked 8 new ones tonight. I'll check with builder. Of course, I'll pay him. What is general table height in Houzz land?

From your photos it looks like you have a renovated 1960's home, with a modernist-inspired slate fireplace, and a contemporary kitchen. Your very traditional styled dining room suite in an open plan living space may look better in a more formal dining room setting, and is a bit at odds with the surrounds. It is possibly a reproduction piece using timber veneers, so my first question is that if you are spending good money on a professional to restore it, which won't be cheap, would you be better off buying something with a more contemporary and informal style that complements the rest of your open plan space? If you are definitely keeping the suite (mabe for sentimental reasons) then I would never paint it, and lose that timber grain. Perhaps a compromise may be a light grey lime wash finish to echo the colours of the slate stone in the fireplace. It won't change the formal style of the setiing, but at least the colours will work. Best of luck, Dr Retro of Dr Retro House Calls