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publick_man

Dining table size - leaf or no?

My own dining table is 39" diameter, but it has two 12" leaves, which we leave in, making the table 63" x 39" racetrack oval. We leave the leaves in because that the table has six matching chairs; here's an old photo of it:

If we took the leaves out to store them, we would need to store two of the chairs, and so I guess they would have to go into the garage somewhere. There are just two of us, and we never have six people at the dining table, although occasionally we will have one or two guests. I am thinking that perhaps I should remove only one leaf (and two chairs) because it is very difficult to pass things the length of the table, and I'm not sure I want a 39" diameter round table, as I occasionally use the table for other things, such as laying out fabric, although it is not ideal for that.

I'm working on a new dining table design, and for starters, I have it at 66" x 36" with rounded ends, to go with a new dining chair design. This design will not work with leaves, but I think a solid, fixed top is better anyway. My previous table at home was boat-shaped and was about 64" x 42", trestle style, and I liked it very much because the trestle base was very stable and good for sewing projects, but when we bought the new chairs at an estate sale, they would not sell them without the table, and so I decided to keep the new (from 1960) set.

Do your chairs match your table? Does your table have leaves? What size is your dining table? Are leaves useful, or are they a nuisance? I think tables look better without them. Do you have a glass top dining table? The last glass top table I designed ended up being quite expensive, and so I'm trying to do something more affordable.

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