A table for six that lives as a table for four

A 180 cm table in a room that seats four most nights is a monument to optimism. It holds the week hostage for two dinners a year.

A 120 or 140 cm top with a hidden leaf keeps the everyday aisle. Check the extended length in the studio as a separate arrangement, including the extra chairs you will fetch from the bedroom.

Round tables ease elbows and waste corners in a rectangular bay. Rectangular tables waste no corners and collect knees. The room's rectangle usually wins.

If the leaf needs two people and a clear afternoon to deploy, you will not deploy it. Mechanism is part of hospitality.