The only drawback I see to having the needle face you is that you will lose the knee lift capability. One of my favorite things. I measured my machine and the width of it with the power cords (which will be your depth and back of your machine) is 20 inches, if you don't want to squish the power cord too bad. I have mine set down into a table at about 4 1/4 inches from the front set the normal way. I have 3 feet behind the machine and 4 feet to the left of the machine. I suggest you try it both ways. 24 inches will not be very big once the machine is sunk into the table.