before and after: trestle dining table

It's a little over three months since I told you I was upgrading our dining setting. To refresh your memory, here's what it all looked like before I started working on it:

Well, the dining table is finally ready to show off. It was a super simple upgrade:

1. Use an electric sander to grind off ever last trace of varnish and grime you could imagine finding on a single dining table (this will take longer than you think, so the electric sander is essential for success and sanity). 
2. Wipe clean with a damp cloth. 
3. Rub good quality wood oil evenly across surface with clean rag.
4. Remove table-top from legs and dissemble legs for hard rubbish (or another project down the track).
5. Buy trestle legs from Ikea and assemble. Seriously. I had planned on making some from scratch, but there's no way I would have matched the price ($10 each) and ease of assembly. 
6. Put table-top on top on trestle legs and smile. 

We chose to switch to a trestle for the dining table because... and I'm slightly ashamed to admit this... we rarely sit at the dining table (as in, we only sit at the dining table when we have guests over during winter, when the meal isn't on-the-lounge-in-front-of-the-tv friendly). The trestle function means we can put the table away (legs in a cupboard and table top under the bed) when not in use, which means we can use the dining area for other purposes.

Presenting, for your ogling pleasure, our newly improved dining table!

I love the new look and now actually want to sit at the table! As for the chairs, I'm planning to use three of them to create a bench seat for the dining setting, but I will probably purchase a mish-mash of new (or new-to-me) chairs that are a little funkier and are either easier to store or multipurpose.

Would a trestle table be your cup of tea in your dining room? What's your ideal dining set up?