I love my dining room. LOVE IT. It is the first room you see when you walk in. It has a giant green wall (Behr: Grape Leaves). The art work on that wall is a series of three framed pieces of fabric. Super cheap, but the texture of the fabric and the colors are perfect. I have framed pictures of art from both girls that look great. It is huge, so it is fun for parties. Quite a few antique pieces (there are no other antiques in the house unless you think a 13 year old washing machine is antique) including a folding rocking chair I bought for $5 at a garage sale and a stereo with turntable that was my grandfather's. A beautiful sideboard that my parents bought for our anniversary. My family doesn't really go in there, so it stays relatively clean. But my favorite thing about the dining room is the table.
Without the table, there would be no dining in the dining room. So it does posess the key feature. But there is some history with that table.
When we got married, Keith's grandmother gave us the table. Her friend was selling it in a garage sale, so she bought it for us. It is a Duncan Phyfe, so it is also an antique. It is pretty cool, too. The table is drop-leaf and has two removable leaves, which means it can go from seating two to eight (we have even been known to squeeze twelve in, but that was probably miserable for all involved). For whatever reason, her friend had painted it a horrible mustard color. Keith said, "Don't worry, I can strip it and it will be perfect." It did not come with chairs (this is kind of our theme with tables...read about the kitchen table) but that was OK because it was FREE.
Into our little duplex it went, the putrid yellow table AND its tablecloth. The lack of chairs didn't hinder our ability to entertain--we would just throw BYOC* parties. One day about four months later, I thought that I could strip it. I bought some materials and began the process. It was WAY harder than I had imagined. I did just enough to make all the paint bubble up, but not enough to be able to scrape it off. So back under the tablecloth it went.
In the next couple of years, I had a friend that turned me onto antique auctions. It was awesome. I was able to get four antique chairs for a total of $100. I just needed to recover the chair pads. Easy. A few months later, I scored four more chairs. This time for a total of $80. Amazing deal. And they are wonderfully mix-matchy. So now I have eight chairs with recovered chair pads, but a beautiful table still sitting under a tablecloth.
The table was a permanent fixture on Keith's Honey-Do list. Although as I thought it should be ranked about #3, he kept relegating it to #654. For years it hid under the tablecloth ashamed by its scarred state. And then there was an enlightenment. It moved to #1. Week after week, Keith worked on stripping the table. He arduously stripped all the paint off, from flat surface to crevice (and there are lots of fine crevices!!) At last, it has been stripped to its original state. It was gorgeous, but naked. However, now the momentum had subsided. The tablecloth was summoned once again.
A few more years passed. It was always adorned with a placesettings and decor that matched my frequent changing of tastes. But all was set on a table draped with a coordinating tablecloth. Suddenly again, Keith began work on the table. This time, the task was staining. And then, work stoppage.
Now we are well into our 12th year of marriage. The current state of the table is completely stripped, stained. Not sealed. But you will be happy to know that the table no longer is veiled by a tablecloth. It stands proud in its ALMOST finished state. It now has a winter runner and a summer swag. It is flanked by a setting of green glass plates and goblets. And the table rests soundly on a fun, modern and colorful rug.
While it is not 100% finished, it is happy. It has proudly been host to many dinner parties, family celebrations, birthdays, beautiful table arrangements and is the first to great all of our guests. Now that I think about it, who of us is 100% finished? Let us all remember the dining room table and choose to be happy in spite of it.
*BYOC-Bring Your Own Chairs
**Sorry for the crooked lampshade and moving (garage sale) box in the photos.
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