@lindac, thank you!! Yes, once upon a time our family was large enough to take up that table and more. ;) I know that's one reason my mom wants to keep and restore it. I will look for someone to create leaves with an apron. I never have it without at least one leaf in it anyway. And, I am hoping to use it fully extended in our next home.

Cole, I think you are reading annoyance in the wrong place. I got a bit annoyed when I read your first post - what I saw was "I applied stain to a hand made table without testing the stain on a scrap, and now I screwed it up. Please help!" You asked/researched too late - that should have been done before you applied anything to the finished product. Kind of like "I squeezed all the toothpaste out of the tube - how do I put it back?" Since you made the table, perhaps you can replace the one board that you stained, and start over - practicing on scrap pieces until you find the stain color/application technique that gives you the look you desire. If you can't do that, and need to fix what you have, use scrap lumber again. Apply the current stain, so you start with the orange color, and try different colors over the top. You may find a combination that is acceptable. Be sure to label all of your test pieces, so if you find a winner, you can repeat it! Good luck.

I feel like the tulip table recommendation above is spot on. It does come in 42" round option. Also, plenty of European furniture companies make "smaller" (as opposed to American standards) pieces. For example, this table is by Italian company Arper, and it comes in variety of shapes and sizes. Steel base and mdf top. Here is a 42" oval one: https://www.yliving.com/arper/?sz=24&start=24 https://www.arper.com/us/en/products/collections/dizzie I had it in one of my previous homes and it's extremely solid.

Thank you JudyG and Kirsten! So that's two votes for the white with nickel. I'm starting to feel a little better for sure. Yes, we're definitely wanting a large rug under the table. Any suggestions for color? Darks, neutrals, bold? We'll probably do a china cabinet as well, but not a piece that matches too closely with the table.