voted yes, but not really to preserve the table but because it adds to the decor of the room imo.

I love to. But I let the kids do it And like ^^^ said it's just for fun. It's solid oak, if it gets messed up I can always fix it.

Yes, I do it to HIDE the surface. Right now, I live in a little one bedroom condo, but it's not where we'll be staying permanently as far as location -- I'm here a few more years while I finish my Ph.D., while my husband lives a few states away for his residency, probably where we will settle down for good. It made no sense to throw $$ down into a real dining room set for the condo we own at my location, or the apartment as his location, so my parents gave me their old kitchen table, which had been my craft table as a child. It actually was a really nice table at one point, until I covered the surface with splatters of paint! So, now it constantly has a tablecloth or placemats and a runner on it to hide my childhood decorations!

It's done occasionally at my house. There's all ready dents from when my brother and I were little. My mom was always proud to show off our "artwork."

like you, i inherited my dining room table when my stepmother bought a new one. i don' t ever want to spend my money on a new set so I'm taking care of the one i have!

we currently use just placemats, but I think if I had my own house I might use a table cloth.

I quite like clothes, especially at christmas, but we have a huge table that doesn't really cover easily, which is why I suppose we use the place mats. I do think cloths look better on smaller tables for some reason.

All the time! Mostly because they're easier to clean, and I always end up spilling something. Placemats would be pretty useless for me.

Yes. All the time.

Only for special occasions. I do always have a center piece on my table, though.

i love to dress the table

Glass top on mine...so no need to worry about covering anything up or surface damage. If I had a wood surface, I might be more likely to use various clothes, placemats, etc. I do appreciate a nicely dressed table & would do it more for special occasions.