Mine is set in, similar to carrieg's picture, but I had an acrylic cutout made to fit around my machine so it's one continuous space and nothing can fall in (other than a small area off around the throat where the machine curved down). The lift on my table gives me the option of flush, sunk down or sunk way down (I guess that's for when you want to hide your machine away, but I never use that). There's a wooden insert to cover it when it's flush for my embroidery unit.