With all the attention food is getting these days – preservative free, locally grown, all-natural, trans-fat free, organic or otherwise – it’s easy to lose track of what’s been happening to the sturdy furniture piece that supports all those nutritious meals and heirloom china pieces.

The hot new thing with dinner tables is a round shape, according to the experts.

“It’s sort of like a King Arthur table,” said the staff at Youngs Furniture in South Portland, while showing off a glass and wood model.

With a circular lay out, there is no more “head of the table” position and casserole dishes can make a more natural orbit.

Eclectic furniture pieces are also in vogue.

In the past matching was a virtue, but those days have gone by – much like the moth-eaten automaton in the attic. Leather chairs can be placed in a room with wood and glass accents with little regard for whether anything matches with anything else.

Rooms with eclectic furniture can be dressed up or down, very much on the same wavelength as modern American culture, which these days seems to pride comfort and flexibility over rigidness.

Another popular thing in dining room furniture is slip covers on chairs. Slip covers are practical, because they shield the upholstery from spilled gravies and sticky sauces, and can be freely swapped to make a room more versatile.

Tina Pagano, design manager at Crockett Interiors in Gorham, said there is a lot of variety in dining room styles today.

“Just about anything goes,” said Pagano. “There is no one trend.”

She said individuality is keeping most home owners from being pigeonholed into categories.

“A lot of our customers work in environments that are very static,” said Pagano, like drab, monotonous offices. “When they come home they crave a lot of colors.”

Another popular movement is open-concept homes, where the kitchen, dining and living rooms are all combined into one great room.

Pagano said large combination rooms can be enhanced with a single vision of matching furniture pieces, very different from the eclectic direction Youngs Furniture is promoting.

Call Young’s Furniture at 775-3747, or Crockett Interiors at 856-6711, for more information about the latest trends in dining room furniture and decorations.