Dining in

When DH and I got married, I had an ancient kitchen table and two chairs that my Grandpa had trash-picked and fixed up for me. DH had an oriental-styled kitchen table and four chairs that he inherited from his parents. We kept DH's set as it had more chairs, and I gave my set to a newly-graduated cousin who had just rented her first apartment.

DH's set had upholstered chair seats with truly hideous covers (think '70's style harvest gold and avocado green *shudders*). We bought some cheap but sturdy upholstery fabric remnants and recovered them. We bought a staple gun to do it (our first tool purchase as newlyweds). Neither one of us cared much for the style of the table and chairs, but they were sturdy and functional.

We had that set for seven years and then we sold it to a newlywed couple and bought a heavy oak farmhouse-style table and six chairs along with a matching china hutch. The table would seat eight comfortably; 10 if you got real cozy with each other.

When we bought our current house, we knew that we needed a much, much smaller table and had no room at all for the hutch. So in May of 2008, we sold the set and hutch to a previously-owned furniture store and used a plastic folding table and a couple of folding chairs "temporarily." Well you know how that goes.

Nearly a year and a half later, we finally found something we liked on clearance and bought it. We honestly hadn't been looking too hard and just kind of happened on the sale (I love it when that happens!).

So I've been putting the table and chairs together for most of the afternoon instead of stitching, and I still have the other two chairs to do. The table is 42" in diameter, nice and small so that it doesn't overwhelm the dining area. And 42" is a nice size for playing Forty-two. :-) It'll seat four, maybe five if the fifth person is a small nephew on a stool.

If we have more than four adults over, no big deal. We're more of the "make yourself at home, have a seat on the sofa and prop your feet up on the coffee table" kind of people anyway.