I Bought A Dining Table!

For example, I was interested in this one. It’s made for a leaf, which is good, but it didn’t come with a leaf. That’s not a huge problem. I can always make a leaf to go in a table. But the person was asking $275 for a table that clearly needs to be refinished.

It’s this Ashely 48″ round table that extends to 72″ with a leaf, and it sells new for $650.

But when I saw this table listed for $50 on Marketplace yesterday, I contacted the seller immediately. I love the shape of the legs, and the size of the table was perfect. It looked like a very solid table, but it was listed as “fair condition”. I laughed at the description which said, “Well loved dining table with original artwork on it by my child.” 😀 Evidently, her child had decorated the top with markers and/or crayons, as well as some glitter, which remains embedded in the wood grain on the top. But I don’t care about any of that because, of course, I’m going to paint it.

When I got there to pick it up, they had taken it apart so that it would be easier to load. So I brought it home and immediately put it together. This is a really heavy, solid table, y’all! I’m not saying that it’s solid wood. The top is clearly a veneer over a cheaper substrate. But the legs are very sturdy. The table isn’t wobbly at all. I think this is quite a bargain for $50!

I didn’t have time to move the recliners out of the room, but once I do, the table will obviously be centered on the windows under the light. I’m not sure yet if I’ll keep the leaf in the table or if I’ll remove the leaf and use the round table for general use and then bring the leaf out only when needed.

It took all of my self-control not to get my sander out immediately and sand down this table top.

You can see where it’s been stained with what looks like crayons and/or markers.

And the top has a heavy grain to it. But again, I don’t care about any of that. The whole thing will get sanded and painted.

But now that I have a dining table, of course, my mind has been busy planning this room. I still don’t have a design plan in mind, but I do know that I want the TV out of this room. And since the shelves were built to go around the TV, I’ll probably be removing the shelves as well. And I also don’t think I want a buffet on that wall anymore.

Instead of the buffet on that wall, I want two matching buffet-style pieces to flank the door to the pantry. Since I’ve stripped this room to use those items in other rooms, I’m pretty much working with a blank slate in here.

And since this will be a dining room instead of a sitting room/TV room, I also want to find a really pretty chandelier to go over the table. Maybe I can repurpose this light in the storage room if it’s not too big.

So I’m pretty thrilled with my purchase! I’m so glad that my months-long search for a dining table is over, and I found one that will work at an incredible bargain price. Now I just need to get to planning the rest of the room. The next big challenge will be finding six matching dining chairs that I like at a reasonable price.