Extension tables extend. We all know that, it’s in the name. But how much do they extend? How much should they extend? And probably most importantly, how much should yours extend?
Our Standard is 18" Leaves
So on most of our tables we suggest 18” leaves. That basically adds 2 place settings, I’ll explain that here. Sometimes depending on the placement of legs or trying to fit leaves into the table for storage we go up or down some, but 18” is our most typical suggestion.
Why Do Se Suggest 18” Leaves?
We suggest 18" leaves because that adds one setting on each side of the table, most of the time. Around a table you need room for chairs, people, and place settings. Adding another person to your table needs room for each of those things. A person isn’t going to be much less than 18” wide, I made a video about this and measured myself, I’m about 21 inches across. People come in all different shapes, sizes, and comfort with personal space. So everyone’s going to be different, but usually a table has some flexibility in spacing before the leaves, so a little tightening the spaces along the table and 18” adds another person.
Do Chairs Affect This?
Chairs will also vary in width, the narrowest ones are typically about 18” wide, and then they get wider from there. If you have arm chairs then they’re quite a bit wider, and if that’s the goal I might suggest a wider leaf. But! If there aren’t arm chairs, then the chairs will probably be about the same width as the people.
How Wide is a Place Setting?
Finally is a place setting. In that same video I talked with Michael O'Doherty. He's worked in events, catering, and knows way more about the size of place settings than I do. If you want all the details, watch the video. If the short version is good, the fanciest place settings might need 20” wide, most of the time less than that. So the place setting is not where you’ll run out of room.
All that is why we feel like an 18” leaf adds 2 place settings. The other reason we suggest 18” is that they usually aren’t too heavy. A wider leaf can get heavy. They are solid hardwood after all. Especially when the table is getting wider so the extension gets longer, I would suggest keeping the leaves no wider than 18”.
Want to learn more? Here's a video we made.
