Order four inexpensive ready made legs. Have plywood cut to size. Attach legs to plywood. Try it out with your three people on each side.

What are breadboard ends? IMO any table with legs in the corners are not coducive to allowing good seating for extra chairs I also like a wider table if you do mostly family style dining IMO 42" is the narrowest I would go.Maybe post a pic here of the plan and why a custom table at all? How many people do you want to seat all the time ? Waht size is your space that is what really decides table size .I much prefer a table with pedesatl base or large overhangs with the legs inset to allow seating. &@" is pretty tight for mosr dining chairs BTW and please no bench .

Chairs are different widths. Get your chairs first, set them in the configuration you want, and design your table around the actual sizes.

Agree with Patricia on this one--you will get the most flexibility for comfortable seating with a pedestal base or trestle legs. Trestle leg construction can give you some of the same clean lines you get with Shaker style, but with a little more visual heft. (Or in some styles, a lot more heft.)

When you post here it is a good idea to come back soon to answer questions so this can move along.

Thank you for the replies! I apologize - I got really sick right after posting this and didn't check back in.

These are all good thoughts.

To give context: I went back and forth between a table with legs and with a pedestal and honestly in the end I just found that all of the tables I love have legs. It isn't the most practical choice but it was just the look I wanted in the end. As far as overall size, I know these dimensions are considered tight for 3 chairs side-by-side, but I've played a lot with our space and this is the best way to maximize seating (minus perhaps the leg issue). This is for an eat-in kitchen that serves as our only dining space and the largest table I can comfortably put in the room is 84" x 38."

Also, we are a casual family that loves to have people over frequently but in informal - "just dropping by" - ways versus fancy dinner parties. So I do want it to be comfy but it doesn't have to be exactly proper. I actually bought a Pottery Barn table that was 83" x 38" but returned it due to color issues- but it allowed me a few weeks to practice with my space and chairs/leg placement. Our chairs are relatively small (no benches - I agree!) and we're a small-ish family so the 72" between legs should be okay for us.

All of that said, when thinking about the custom table I was more focused on the balance between the table top and legs - I hadn't really thought a lot about the apron width and leg clearance. So I glad to be considering this! I will look at adjusting the overall height to 30.5" and the apron to 3" to gain another inch. That would put 26" from the floor to bottom of apron, and 8" from the seats of our current chairs to the apron. I am going to rig something up so I can actually practice the this to see if it is comfortable.

All of this said, I still welcome any feedback or experiences with your own tables. He's ordered the lumbar but won't start building until later this week so there is still time to finesse this!

Oh - edited to add: breadboard ends are the pieces you sometimes see capping the ends of a farmhouse table.