Dream Book Design

Dining Room Table And Chairs

It makes me so happy that you guys love our butterfly of a dining room as much as we do- and it’s been fun sharing all the little details with you. Last things up – the table and chairs! Like 99% of things in our home, our stuff is either DIY, Craigslist, or eBay/auctions. If you have certain dining chairs and tables in mind, then you’ll want to whittle down your searches by adding in more keywords online so you can find exactly what you’re looking for and then go from there.

These items didn’t come as an easy decision to us {does furniture ever come as an easy decision to people??}. The chairs especially were a tricky one. Initially I had my heart set on getting Eames dining chairs:

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And then we realized to get the real deal, it would cost us a disgusting $3,500. Yes, to me that is qualified as disgusting. So on went our search. We found these chairs on eBay, and they are Krueger, and we initially paid $50 a chair. I say initially because when they arrived, they were decently damaged. The seller didn’t pack them properly, so some of the screws ended up scratching the seats {not all, but most of them}. We contacted the seller and sent him photos of the damage, and he was kind enough to bring it down to $30 a chair, so all in all we got 10 chairs for $300. Yes, in case you were wondering- that number is NOT disgusting to me, its actually something of beauty;) He also sent us a pen that is an exact match to the color, so we are just going to fill in the scratches and hope for the best!

Thats the story behind the chairs. And even though they are fiberglass and look like they would be seriously uncomfortable, they are dreamy to sit in. Not lying!

Now for the table. Ooh the stupid stupid table. We have been around the world and back with going back and forth on decisions. For the longest time we were wanting a high gloss white table. Something similar to this one:

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I was just determined to have a table like that one. That color, those legs, I wanted it all. And then reality struck and we realized not only was it going to end up costing us an arm and a leg to make the table, but that white would hold up about .25 seconds around kids. The top and structure of the table wasn’t the high price part, but finding legs {or having them made} like that were seeming to cost us a fortune. Im talking $500 to have them made. Again, a disgusting number for some legs.

Yes, we could have gone a different route for legs and had much more simple ones, but we felt that those were crucial to getting the look we loved for it. So we changed our search and were going to DIY one, since we already have before. Then we realized we have about 300 projects left to do here, and if we found the right one online, we should do it. We found this beauty on Craigslist, and it was $550. It is beautifully refinished with tons of character, and in the end only cost us about $200 more than we could have made it for.

We are so happy with the choices we have made for this room. Not everything in it was DIY, but when you see something you just love, as in love as much as anything you could DIY, thats ok!
Now, I do need some advice here. The corners of the table are fairly pointy, not being too friendly to Bray so far. He is a freaking tough kid, so doesn’t even make a peep when he bangs in to them while running around, but its leaving marks and freaking me out! So, is there even such a thing as something to protect the corners that is either not hideous, or at least removable to take off when we have people over {without the kids being present!}??? Help a mama out!

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    As far as pointy corners….years ago with my kids I used the ugly foam corner pads I bought from Babies R’ Us….however, when we removed them, the adhesive definitely left a mark….if I were to do it now, I would jimmy up something on my own…you could see if you could find a foam or vinyl product that matches as close to the color of your table as possible (maybe use those colored foam sheets from the craft stores?)…then I would try using those 3M Command strips…I don’t know for sure if they work on wood but they’re supposed to come off without leaving marks….worth a try…best of luck. Your dining room looks awesome!

  2. Anonymous says

    This sounds awful or funny depending on your take, but how about getting those pool noodles and cutting them to the size of the ends of your table plus two inches. Then slit them down the middle lenghwise and just open them up and push them on. If it’s only for daily use and not for company to see … it’ll work for what you are looking for.

  3. two birds says

    i love this room…everything about it works! as for pointy corners, i don’t know. the ones i have seen are hideous. you should look on pinterest, i’m sure there is some amazing papier mache trick you can do or something like that!

  4. European Paint Finishes says

    GORGEOUS! What a fabulous room for entertaining! LOVE the table and think you went with the right decision. The finish on it is beautiful. Like the chairs you ended up with too, i especially like the high bowed legs on them!

  5. indiekitten says

    I MUST know about your rug! I love it and have been looking for something not too different for my dining room. It might have been one you already have – can you give me some search terms if so? Is it a dhurrie (just learned that word) what kind of pattern, etc??

  6. Off The Cuff Cooking says

    I was gonna suggest what Anonymous said up above- pool noodles or plumbing insulation tubes with a slit down the middle. Easy to put on and easy to take off– but good cushioning for rambunctious kiddos and their noggins.

    http://www.examiner.com/images/blog/EXID47225/images/pipeInsulation-747405.jpg

    Hope that helps! 🙂 And the room looks fantastic– I like that “school house” style chair, because they’re so similar to Eames, but way cheaper, and sturdier and easier to replace if your kids damage them.

  7. Anonymous says

    I am absolutely obsessing over these chairs….actually the whole chairs/chandelier/table combo. i LOOOOOOVE it.