Most people know what dining table leaves are, but this somewhat technical description up will serve as a great review or fill in any knowledge gaps that you might have about how they work.
Dining table leaves are slabs of wood typically 12″ wide with a length, thickness, wood type, and finish color that matches the top of the table they are designed to fit with. Leaves are designed to match the table top so when they are inserted in between the two halves of the table, the leaves and the table top blend together.
The sole purpose of dining table leaves are to allow the table to extend to greater lengths, thus allowing more seating capacity. Often times multiple leaves are purchased at the time the table was purchased to get a perfect stain match. It is not uncommon, however, to additional leaves to be purchased later by having a stain match done by the finisher.
When purchased with a new table, the edge profile of the leaves will be built to match the rest of the table top edge profile, so if you are purchasing the table leaves after the initial purchase, be sure to send the builder the edge profile of your current table to they will match by etching onto a piece of pater or drawing a precise sketch.
Other factors to consider when purchasing extension leaves is adding leaf skirts, and adding a leaf storage option to your table if it’s available on the table model you are looking at purchasing. Leaf skirts make the table more attractive when the leaves are in the table, and storage adds convenience by making easier to store the leaves
There are other types of leaves as well, which are not to be confused with extension leaves covered in this discussion. The butterfly leaf, and the drop leaf also serve to extend the length of the table to create greater seating capacity, but function differently and are an aesthetic variant of extension leaves.