Re: Re: My New Dining Table

Hi! I hope you had a great weekend...we did! It was our sixth wedding anniversary, so we went away for the weekend (sans Suz) and stayed in Sandestin, which was really gorgeous and so relaxing. We ate at some amazing places and just enjoyed the sun and sand...plus lots of people-watching from behind the cover of my dark sunglasses. So all my thoughts and suggestions are coming from the mind of someone who is totally refreshed and rested, which will hopefully make them really useful!

Okay, so I am with you on loving the Grand Baluster Dining Table. The legs are gorgeous, but I completely agree with you - how impractical! Not only would you need to sharpen your tweezers, but it seems like it would be hard to keep clean too...would sauces or wine soak into the wood? Yikes and no thanks. Of the other two options, I really like the Flatiron Dining Table, which surprises me because I have always loved a farmhouse table with simple lines. But I really like the Flatiron Table. Maybe it's the combination of the wood where you can really see the grain and then the metal legs - it's an unexpected mix. You get the warmth of the wood but the industrial-ness of the legs. Plus, the legs on the other table just seemed really heavy to me. And with the Flatiron Table you could always pull up extra chairs for people to sit on the corners if you needed it, because there are no legs right on the corner for people to band their knees against!

So if you were to go with the Flatiron Table, you could go sooo many directions with the seating. I would be completely overwhelmed, so I'm glad it's you and not me making the decision! I'm just going to give you all my input (and a lot of pictures & links!) to hopefully get your design juices flowing!

I guess first you need to decide how formal you want to go. Also - how and if you want to incorporate color? Do you want to have the chairs nuetral but then upholster them in a colorful fabric? Do you want the chairs completely nuetral, and then bring in color with your linens and dishes? BTW - I love your dining room decor. The framed plates are such an amazing idea! Sorry for not responding sooner!

Here are a few photos I snapped from my Idea Notebook, all from Better Homes & Gardens.

I love how all these chairs are different (including the fabric), but they're unified by the stain:

I have also seen it where someone takes all different types of wooden chairs and paints them the same color to unify them, even though they're all different shapes and sizes. That's more of an informal, eclectic look, so I'm not sure that's what you're going for in here. In this room, I really like the mix of the yellow and green. And I love the frameless mirrors on the wall. It's actually given me an idea for something to do above my bed, so just keep this picture in mind for the future!

These chairs all match and are somewhat formal, but the tie on the cushion gives them some interest and are supposed to look like ribbons on ballet slippers:

These chairs are just really unique and I bet would be comfortable for a long family dinner (something to consider!). They remind me of those purses that are made out of seatbelt straps:

These chairs offer great texture, in my opinion. Plus you could swap out the cushions pretty cheaply if you wanted something different:

Speaking of texture, I really love a good woven chair. Here is one from Ikea that is a total steal at $79:

Here it is in action on the third season of Sarah's House (aka My Obession...did you see where Sarah's Cottage has started on HGTV??? Love it.):

I think it's a chair that could go really casual or dressy, depending on its surroundings, and Sarah made it work perfectly in her more formal dining room.

Another route you could go is to do some kind of bench or settee on one side, just to break up all the chairs a little bit. I love this example from Little Green Notebook:

For your table, you would need something longer, so a bench of some kind might be more economical, but I really love this idea. Or, you could keep a simple bench (almost like a picnic table bench) against a long wall in your dining room that seats more people than the number of chairs you have on one side, so when you have a crowd you could swtich out the chairs for the bench on that side. Just a suggestion.

Then there is the option of doing different chairs for the heads of the table. Sometimes I think this looks too grand and formal, but I found this example at BHG's website and I really love the way it looks:

Or you could do something kind of mod and retro with these Herman Miller chairs, also courtesy of BHG online:


I like how the table is really traditional and farmhouse-y, but the chairs are so not. It's an interesting combination that is sort of appealing.

I feel like at some point in one of our conversations (actual conversations, not just virtual) you talked about doing upholstered chairs, so I could be missing the mark altogether here. But wasn't this fun? I love looking at pictures of other people's houses, even if I'm not actually going to use any of those ideas!

I can't wait to see what you decide!

Xoxo,

Kara