A New Table!

I've never liked my dining room table. It's the second table I've owned. I might have had a small kitchen one before that, but I can't remember it. Then I inherited a functional but basic fake veneer table from my dad. I was fond of it because it had been my dad's table, but it wasn't anything fancy.

At some point along the way my mom came across and gifted us with someone's hand-me-down table. It was a great upgrade as it was much larger and sturdier, octagon in shape so it fit the growing family much better. It had a leaf to add for holiday or project needs. It was "real wood" but had a fake wood veneer top - not sure why that made sense to whoever created it. Maybe because it made it virtually indestructible. The chairs were less so, indestructible that is. They had a wicker backing and wheels, which the kids loved and which of course gave them numerous ways to annoy me. We've gone through all those chairs plus several other generations of chairs that couldn't stand up to a family of growing boys. Although really, it's almost an impossible expectation.

The table, however indestructible and cleanable and, without the leaf, perfectly proportioned to the size of my dining room, wasn't my favorite piece of furniture. I've never been fond of it, no matter how functional it was. It just wasn't my style. It was too new looking and the style was too contemporary but not in a good way. It always said "someone's aunt's boring suburban house" style to me.

I couldn't find any good photos of it - here's one with everyone seated around it last New Year's.

And here's a close up of the "wood grain" top.

See, nothing horrible. But, yawwwwn, just boring. And try as it might, just not me.

So last week I was walking uptown for lunch with Hubby when I did an unplanned detour at the thrift shop down the street. There must be an invisible incline there because I almost always find myself veering into their parking lot whenever the gate is open. Strange.....

But anyway, so I walked in and there in the parking lot was a table. A large, shabby chic, OAK table. Heavy as an elephant. It had a price tag on it. My heart started thumping loudly.

"How much is that table over there?" I asked the shop director as she whizzed past on the way to her office.

"It's already sold." My heart stopped thumping loudly and sank into a heap into my stomache. Oh well. But then..... "Oh, you mean that big one? I think it has a sticker on it."

This seemed too amazing to be true. "You mean the sticker that says $12?"

"Oh. Is that what it says?" She walked over and took a look. "Well, I guess it's $12 now. For you."

And the rest was all about lifting and toting and explaining to Hubby why we NEEDED a new table even though we had a "perfectly good table" and explaining what we were gonna do with the old table and the rest of that relationship stuff and clearing the room and mopping the floor for the new arrival.

And here it is. It's a bit more shabby than chic but that's all fixable enough. I need to oil and maybe add a new coat of stain to the legs and frame. There's a teensy bit of the top on one end that's lifted, just a bit about a half inch square. A bit of glue and a heavy stack of books and that will be fixed. The top paint has a few spots that aren't shabby in the good way, so eventually I'll sand and repaint it. But, who am I kidding, that won't happen for a while and it doesn't really matter as there's always piles of books and laundry and things going back and forth through the house on top of the table. And there's always tablecloths.

Here's another view. I love it even now. It's really about as "just what I was looking for" as I could imagine stumbling across. ESPECIALLY stumbling across for twelve dollars! There's also a sliding piece underneath that has a missing edge. This might be an issue if we try to use the three leaves that came with it. We'll figure that out later.

And yes, it's a bit oversized for the room, but doesn't it seem to fit better aesthetically!? I love it!

I think the old white paint of the table is "spooky" enough but just to make sure this is a spooky post, check out the awesome rock I also stumbled upon, literally, in my neighbors yard. It is so totally a skelly man. A skull. It's a 3/4 view. Can you see it? Of course you can. There are his eyes (which even have glowing pinpoints in them), a triangle nose, a hole on the side where his ear would be, and a row of broken teeth.

I'm considering asking her if she wouldn't mind swapping rocks with me. I think he needs to live at my house. What do you think?