New (Old) Dining Room Table

This morning, I explained how completely overwhelmed I was feeling. I couldn’t decide what to do first. I was paralyzed.

So, I went shopping. (Smile.)

To be fair, I didn’t set out to go shopping this morning. After my son’s honors program, I came home for lunch and then figured out that I didn’t have enough time to start on the table before I had to pick the kiddos up from school. I figured I would just run errands instead. Something in my brain told me to run by the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. I was still looking for that elusive dining room table, after all.

In this post, I explained how Dear Husband suggested – and I agreed – that we needed a bigger dining room table. In that post, I explained my parameters for such a table:

“In shopping for the table, I have some rules:

1.  I would prefer it to be old rather than brand new. I am a firm believer in having something old in each room of our home. Plus, I want it to have character.

2.  I do not want to spend a fortune on it, but I will not buy something just because it’s a good deal. Been there, done that.

3.  I would prefer it to be expandable, so that it can stay smaller day-to-day, but be big enough for family gatherings.

4. Nothing super fancy or ornate. That’s not our style, and, after all, it’s still going to be my go-to place to grade papers when the time comes.”

Dear Husband had suggested it be oval, but oval tables are really hard to find. Also, I don’t particularly like oval tables. Dear Husband later conceded that it need not be oval.  Good. We agreed. Thus, the four rules above would govern.

Today, I found the perfect table!

I need to reattach the crossbar (hardware was included – whew!), and it has this cool hardware to hide the screws:

As you can see, the table is quite scratched up. It has definitely been loved.  Just needs a little TLC. Then it will be perfect for us.

Note: it satisfies all the rules.

1. It is old. Well, it’s not new. I don’t know how old it is, but it has definitely been loved. It has character.

2. I did not spend a fortune on it. I spent $250 on it, to be exact. A bargain, to be sure. But I also love it. I didn’t buy it because it was a bargain. I loved it AND it was a bargain. Score!

3. It is expandable.  It has two removable leaves, so it expands to seat 10. Ninety-something inches long with both leaves in it. Perfect.

4. It is not super fancy or ornate. It has chunky legs and a thick wood top and it’s just beautiful and I love it.

I. Love. It.

And yes, that is a different rug. Bigger table required bigger rug. Nabbed it at Home Goods for a song. Yippee!

Yay.

And that made my panic go away. Temporarily.

Thanks for stopping by!