The Newlywed Narrative

Finally… A Table and Chairs

Posted on November 18, 2011. Filed under: Home, Purdy Things |

After months of looking and coping with the realization that they don’t make furniture like they used to, we have a kitchen table and chairs!!!

Adam’s parents were so generous in gifting us this beee-you-tiful table and chairs that we picked out as a wonderful housewarming present. They broke the furniture-buying ice so to speak. We’ve been in this house for 4 months and this is our first furniture acquisition. And we have a long way to go!

Why did it take so long? Well, in what little experience I have shopping for furniture, it always takes a long time. Additive to that, I was and usually am very, very picky. I wanted a round pedestal table on a true pedestal, with a drop-in leaf, solid wood, and one color finish. Besides those qualities, I had to like it stylistically. So it took a long time. You’d think I was asking for the moon when I wanted a solid wood table. A lot of manufacturers don’t make solid wood furniture and substitute a lesser quality wood with wood veneers. And most solid wood tables were out of this world expensive. But I finally found one that I love and Adam likes it too:

forgive the pictures. I had to use the older camera. 😦

This table is made out of poplar and hemlock. The top is planked and a little rustic/worn looking. The planks have these pretty tongue and groove joints that you can see from the side of the table top.

There is a 2 foot leaf that drops in and it is planked as well. The leaf really blends in because of all those planks.  It has a warm mahogany finish and I love the over-sized ball turning in the pedestal.

The feet are pretty fabulous too. See how there are nicks and knots and a general rustic vibe? We love it!!!

The chairs are made out of solid wood as well. The seats can pop out. We plan to re-upholster them in a fabric that is complimentary to the kitchen curtains. Kitchen curtains will be an adventure for later.

The seats of the chair are smaller than your average kitchen chair, but we’re small people. Our behinds fit in them just fine. And the other chair options were REALLY wide. For special occasions, we’d like to be able to fit 6-8 people around this table if we can, so getting slimmer chairs is key. (With the leaf, the table is supposed to seat 8.) We really like the shape of the backs. The chairs are the same stain finish as the table, but less rustic. They still match though. I made sure of that before we ordered them.

Why solid wood? Why not? When it comes to a kitchen table, something that will get used multiple times a day for eating, crafting, doing homework (one day), I wanted it to be very durable. It’s comforting to know that we can sand this baby down in 20 years and refinish it without going through a veneer.

We are so grateful for our wonderful parents. Adam’s parents were more than generous with this gift. We couldn’t be happier. Every morning this week when I’ve walked into the kitchen, I grin like an idiot. And then I pet the table or put my nose to it so I can smell the newness. It’s love. My parents gave us some money to use on stuff around the house. We haven’t used it yet. Yeah, we’re tightwads. We’re thinking about using it on a grill or some furniture in the living room. I’ll let you know when we finally make a decision.

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