An Ode to Our Kitchen Table.

10 years ago, we bought this adorable table and chair set from Pier One.

  
I loved EVERYTHING about it. The way it fit perfectly in our kitchen nook. The solid wrought iron construction. The curl details. The glass top.

Sure, it showed every spot, spill and crumb, but it was so pretty. It was no big deal wipe it down, plus we used place mats to mess was at a minimum.  No problem for two adults.

Then we add little man into the mix!

Fingerprints on the top of the table. Toe-prints (yes, toe prints) on the underside of the table.  Smeared food.  Spilled milk.  You get the idea.

Now I know this is the same for any table, but the glass top really accentuated all that mess. We cleaned it on average of 4 times a day.  Worse yet, was that we were beginning to get used to the mess.  (I know, YUCK)

In the past month, little man has been leaning in to the glass top and it's been shifting.  I immediately had horrible images shattered glass and, god forbid, him being cut or hurt.

It was time to let go of our pre-child table and get something more practical for our life now.

Taking an honest look, we needed more space.  The round table wasn't big enough for the three of us and our stuff.   At any given time, there are 2 laptops, robots, legos, a snack and a iPad on the little thing.

Enter in Craig's List.

I finally made up my mind to look for a table set last Friday night. (No, I didn't dance on tabletops...)  I figured I'd start with Craig's list first.   I did a search for kitchen tables in Southern NJ and the very first listing that appeared was EXACTLY what I was looking for.   The right price ($100!!!!), the right size (large oval) and  it was sturdy.  How could I pass it up?

We called the seller and he was available the next day and we were there with bells on.  He was such a nice person and even helped up load up my car.   Look at this specimen of space management. :)

On our way home, we stopped for lunch which was conveniently located next to a Michael's craft store.  I ran in and bough some white spray paint to cover up the few chips I saw and to give an overall fresh coat to the set.

Here we are at home and ready for spraying. (like my colorful drop cloth?)

It honestly took about one hour to spray, wait, spray again and wait for drying.  I did my spraying in the garage and wanted to remind everyone of the importance of ventilation.   I didn't open the garage doors enough and there was quite the cloud of spray paint in there before I noticed.   (Jaime noticed though and came out to reprimand me and open the garage doors all the way.  Ooops. ) 

The table had an immediate pick me up and was ready to be moved into the kitchen that same night.  We loved it immediately!

Look at all that space!!! Laptops, fruit and an iPad and still have half the table open!

Now, the bad news.   I may need to tweak my already finished room. Yeah I know, wahhh.  The addition of more white into the kitchen is making it a bit washed out.    I am re-thinking our curtains since they now seem to completely blend into the wall color.   I need more contrast.   

The family room flows right off of this room and shares the same wall color.   I have red floor length curtains in that room.   I was pulling in the red in the valances in the kitchen nook that have a small red square pattern and in the seat cushions.  But I know I don't want seat cushions again.  Between the boy and our two cats (Hansel and Gomez), they get really nasty fast and have to be washed often.

  

I'm thinking Roman Shades in a bold pattern like these....

From THIS talented blogger.

THIS

What do you think?   I'll keep you posted on my redesign. :)    Oh, and if you are wondering, we are going to put our old table up for sale on Craig's List.  Hopefully someone else will love it as much as we did.

XOXO