Len wrote: I would have painted everything in sight to avoid having to get things perfect. Painting means I can use filler to cover mistakes.
Actually, Len, I have to completely disagree with you there. If you paint something, the surface has to be perfect - paint shows all the wee nicks and dents in the wood, but varnish tends to disguise them. And paint takes a lot more work to keep clean!
Yes, I sat with a cushion at the table. I think it might be a personal thing for me, because I find nearly all tables too high to eat at comfortably. I'm not exceptionally short, but have relatively long legs and a short torso, so perhaps am shorter than most when seated. Whatever, I would like to think that visitors could eat in comfort, but will set the real table up without it's feet glued into place and try it out for size on separate occasions before committing myself.