I'm planning to build a dining room table (rectangular). 80% of the time it will be used by 2 people, 15% by 3 and 3% by 4 and 2% by 6 (I hope that adds to 100). This means that seating 6 can be "cozy".
I'm thinking of a drop leaf on one end. I could go with the leaf up or down for 4. I'd prefer not to go with a removeable centre leaf - I'd rather deal with two pieces of the top rather than 3 since I'm going to be banding the main field with some trim and a similar treatment for the leaf - plus I don't want to have to store it.
Any suggestions as to dimensions? Where would the legs best be placed? At the corners of the main piece, or inset? I could go with square - a bit bigger than a card table, and something around a 24 inch leaf, but that sounds too unstable since (seating 6) 3 people would be eating off the unsupported leaf.