corners of my home: a table

It probably isn't a huge surprise that the family dinner table holds a lot of importance to me. We had been eating on the table above since Steve and I met - it's one that my grandfather, whom I never met, gave to my grandmother as a wedding gift in 1945. It's a beautiful pine under there somewhere, but it's been painted every color under the sun, starting with this awful thick black that made it impossible to ever strip (I tried. many times). It's been in every apartment and home we've shared, and we've shared a meal here every evening - with friends, family and curious toddlers climbing up on top of it. But it's small, and it's been getting smaller quickly this year. We squeezed around it while I continued the search for something we loved, something priced just right, and something that was 'old and beautiful'.

And then, as these things happen, this table came into our lives and right on into our dining room at the perfect time. A table from a very dear and gracious friend - a table with it's own family history and past. I'm honored to continue it's life as a place of gathering. The first evening we ate on it, we were so happy at the 'just right' feel of it - old, big and beautiful, and the kids were amazed that there was room for us and all the food on the table. Ha! Imagine that.

I knew just the fabric I wanted to use to cover the chairs - it's from the Joel Dewberry collection (which I got from Reprodepot, where it appears to be out now, but it is available at Sew Mama Sew). I do realize that I'm putting white fabric on the chairs, but I'm too stubborn and love the fabric too much to change my mind now, so I purchased a few extra yards for the future changings I'm sure they might need. I love that orange in my green dining room, and the birds seem just right for us.

The yellow table made it's way upstairs to my studio, where it continues to be used and loved everyday as my cutting table. And our new table is serving us well - family dinners, games, art and craft, reading, writing, and lots of talking - so very much of what we do happens at this table. Thinking about all of those moments of life lived at this table  - and the ones yet to come - makes me very happy.

More Corners of My Home on Flickr - (with nearly 20,000 photos of inspiration now. Wow.)

Comments

[jean]

ah...those chairs are perfect. beautiful beautiful amanda.

[Stefani]

Things with stories are always so much more soulful, um, Soule-full, then things without stories. The chairs are fabulous!

[Meredith]

I adore it all. I love seeing all the wood and light and beautiful colors in your home when you post photos. Just beautiful.

I'm diggin' the fabric too!!

[Viv]

What a great use of that fabric - I just received the same fabric yesterday from Sew Mama Sew, along with some complementary fabric for some pillows. I don't think my two yards will be enough for all I want to do with that fabric - love it!

[amy]

love love love the fabric. I really do. and the table looks perfect where it is.

[Julia]

How wonderful to have such personal attachment to those pieces- it really makes it so much more than just "furniture". Especially for something like a dining room table, that holds so much meaning for families and friends.

And beautiful chairs! How did you do that?

[Lora]

I love the story behind your original table. And as for the new chairs...if you are concerned about the fabric being stained by the little ones, just throw a hand towel over the chair at meal time. That's what we are doing for our 5 year old while we are living with my mother-in-law and her white dining chairs. Easy, quick, cheap...

[heather]

what a beauty. forget the saying "if these walls could talk", i say, "if these tables could talk."

great floors too!

[mk]

Beautiful chairs. What a nice, new family tradition.

[Bluebirdbaby]

I have been planning on putting new fabric on our antique chairs for quite some time. I am waiting for Alewives (in Damariscotta) to get the fabric I want in. I was worried because part of it is white, but one of the lovely ladies there told me that they make something called Scotchguard (or something like that) that you can spray on it to make it repel water and easier to clean. I'm sure it's a can of toxic who-knows-what (which makes me nervous around my little one) but there may be other alternatives. Love the fabric you chose!

[Grace]

what is the table that you showed last thanksgiving? was it brown too?

i love your new table and the chair cushions are fantastic!

[m]

We've been wanting a new dining room table since we moved in together six years ago and since getting married and having kids it's been even more of an importance to me. It's where we gather as a family and I'd like a table worthy of these moments. We haven't found the right one yet, but I'm hoping soon! Your story gives me faith that the right one will come along at the right time.

[Kathy]

Beautiful tables and fabric and beautiful history that goes with them.

[kelly]

Such a thoughtful perspective & so true.
Love the new banner too!

[kit]

the chairs look great! I just saw that fabric on some of Shim + sons recent work, was wondering where she got it...thanks for the link.

[SOULEMAMA]

You're observant, Grace! That table was brown, yes. It was my great grandmother's - we tried it out for a bit because it was bigger, but alas, it was hardly sturdy enough to handle the climbing little ones. ;)

[Heather]

We have an old table with lots of history that has been in the family over 100 years, but it sits collapsed and unused. Why? It is large enough -- actually too large for our tiny dining space. It requires a large formal dining room, which we don't have. Also it is low, too low. When you sit at it, unless you are under 5'4", your thighs touch the underside of the table. If you're taller, you may not even be able to get your knees under at all. I think it's 12 legs may have been shortened at some point, and it would be very difficult and obvious to make them longer again. We really have no use for this table. It's very impractical.

Still, it is a thing of incredible beauty, and is in excellent condition (probably from lack of use as previous owners through the years didn't have estate size dining rooms either). What to do?

[deerdominique]

The new banner with Lady A on the sand at the beach kinda took my breath away for a second. What a fantastic picture.
Of course, I love the new dining arrangement, the fabric is perfect for the chairs, all the colors together is magic.

[Toni]

I just discovered the Dewberry line last night and boy was smitten! You can find it at Cia's Pallet too. Your chairs look super.

[mindful mothering]

wow, beautiful hardwood flooring. what kind of wood is that? i love it!

[ruthee]

Your "new" table is the exact same table I have. How funny!

I must say that eating dinner with my family in the evening has allowed me to learn things about my 14 year old that I would never, ever learn otherwise.

Here's to our tables and the time with our children.

[Rachel]

What a lovely post about the tables in our lives. For some reason, tables are the one thing I really can't get rid of. Chairs and desks and couches fine. But the table that a family sits around and shares is a different matter all together.

[Christina]

I think that fabric is perfect for your new table! The colors are perfect :)
I was looking at that fabric at Cia's and at reprodepot. But couldn't figure out what I would have done with it...this is a wonderful way of displaying it. Beautiful!

[Veronica TM]

beautiful corner of your home {and your heart}.

[Ellie]

I love the chair fabric. I'd much prefer to see it everyday - covered with food - and enjoy it, than have it hidden away in a cupboard, "keeping white". You've made me look at, and appreciate our small dining (+ everything else) table all the more.

[Jane]

One of my favorite photos from your blog was an early spring one of Lady A and one brother sitting in the window with bird field guides waiting for Robin. It so captured your children's love of nature. The bird fabric is perfect!

[Christina]

Wonderful table!!! And great stuff that goes on around it, sounds a bit like our place :-) I so agree with the idea of sharing meals - and all those other activities - around the dinner table. Having lived in the UK where it's not really done much, I appreciate my (Danish) family's tradition of the big dinner table (which I have continued although I now live in New Zealand). I once heard of a Danish lady's PhD research, she was looking into what 'home' meant to children in Denmark. She gave a bunch of children a disposable camera, asked them to take pics of what 'home' was to them and then conducted in-depth interviews based on those pictures. The kids took pictures of lots of different things, lollies in front of the tv on friday night, their rooms, siblings, parents etc., but every single one of them took a picture of the family dining table. I'm sure your kids would do the same, and I hope mine would too. Enjoy that table and thanks again for a wonderful blog.

[Claudia]

Isn't that Joel Dewbury fabric fab? I love all four colourways.

And the new banner - summer perfection!

[Julie]

What beautiful corners of your home and what a beautiful "new" table! Our family is also in need of a better dining situation. We only have four chairs and our youngest needs to leave the highchair soon. I've been on the lookout for more chairs so we all can sit around the table!

[Amber]

That fabric is just perfect. So, so beautiful...

Our dinner table has been a source of joy for us for many years, too. And I also cherish the memories of my own childhood dinner table the same way.

[emily]

Robert Farrar Capon says that a family is not really a family until it has a table and a bed. My husband and I took that to heart, and this fall (hopefully) we'll be looking for an old, sturdy table for all the things a table allows. This post is heartening. I'm glad you have that love of a table (and I'm glad you kept the old one, too)