It's the end of an era and part of me is sad. Tim built us a massive (nearly 8ft long!) table 10 years ago. He used extra wood from our wood floors and we eventually stained it and painted the skirting and legs.
A lot of live was lived with this table. It was so big that we could have two sewing machines set up and cut fabric at the other end of the table. When we did a Home Ec class four girls with sewing machines worked at the table at the same time!
We could fit 14 people around this table using benches on the sides and two chairs at each end. We often did. Sunday gatherings here, family dinners every night, holiday meals.
I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
Tim and I have been talking for over a year about getting a smaller table. The one he made was massive and hard to get around sometimes, especially with a house full of people. Lindsay and Joseph had bought a nice used dining set, when they got married, and we've always liked it. With them moving into the apartment at my parents house this past weekend, they were selling it. We decided to buy it and now it sits in our kitchen.
It's 48" round without a leaf in it. There are three 12" leaves for the table and we have 6 matching chairs. Right now we have the table set up with one leaf in it.
It's really great in our space, but with one leaf it looks so SMALL!
It is perfect with my English Country House Style, and we do really like it. Now I think I need to find a rug for under the table!
Have you ever said goodbye to a beloved piece of furniture?
11 comments:
That was my first question: what are you doing with the table Tim made? Yes, I have said goodby to many pieces that I have loved, but no longer serve as well. One of them, my grandfather’s Victrola, is sitting in the garage right now and I’d love to figure out a way to squeeze it back in. Your descriptions of your farm table had me alternately grinning and sniffling with you. I love the thought of a rocking table with four sewing machines humming along. 😁 Your new table perfectly fits your space in both size and style. You are going to LoVe it, if you don’t already.
Change is always tough, especially when there are so many good memories involved. The new table is gorgeous. Have fun making new memories...on both that table and the old as it gets handed down.
It looks nice in your house! We used to have a round table also, but the chairs were falling apart and we received a free rectangular table and chairs to replace it (when a friend died). I do miss the round one though.
How nice that your large one will live again soon in another house!
I do like a round table, but I also understand it's hard to change from a much loved piece.
That is so pretty! We gave away our small kitchen table many years ago before a move. It also had many memories associated with it. However, we still have the pine table that was in our formal dining room when we had one. It sits in the dining area of our present house, fitting nicely with just one leaf in it. The one thing I miss about our larger house is that formal dining room that had DOORS to the kitchen and formal living room. I could set the table even days ahead of a Holiday meal.
I'm glad you kept it. Lindsay will be very glad to have it one day!
I remember all of us (your family and mine) sitting around the wonderful table that Tim made the very first time we met you!! You served up a delicious roast beef meal and that warm Rabe hospitality!! That won't change. You guys will still welcome people and treat them well, no matter the size of the table. ♥
Yes, I have said good-bye to a beloved piece of furniture . . . a table passed down from my parents that we simply outgrew. Our china closet that was too big for our dining room at Pineapple House. I kind of put our old home into that category because it was well-loved, made over from top to bottom by our own blood, sweat, and tears, and it was full of 35 years' worth of family memories. But now Pineapple House is the place for new memories and we wouldn't go back.
(Please forgive me for becoming an infrequent commenter! I'll be back after the senior year/wedding/graduation frenzy!)
It looks beautiful and fits nicely. Look at all those memories you have with the other table. I was about to ask what you did with the other one, thanks for telling us. I love it when pieces of furniture that means so much gets passed on to other family members. Have a blessed day dear friend, HUGS!
There is nothing that can beat a ROUND dining table, in my opinion. Yours looks perfect in your space and the table and chairs are beautiful. I'm glad you were able to save the older table to be used and loved by someone later. A win all around!
My Tim built our dining room table 32 years ago. He turned pedestals and created sliders for three leaves. So much life was lived around that table - in the jungle, in the highlands of Ecuador, and now here in Canada. People from every continent on earth have sat around that table. When we left Ecuador in 2002, we debated bringing a shipment home. In retrospect, I'm so glad we did, for the memories continue. Recently, we did give up our round breakfast room table that he made, also in Ecuador, to make room for a drop leaf table passed down from his mother. The round table was given to a Syrian refugee family who had nothing in the way of furniture. I pray that as they sit around that table, they would come to know something of our God who loves them so much.
A wonderful post that sparks memories and thoughts about a possible post on my own blog.
The new to you table looks lovely there and I'm sure you will enjoy the extra space around it. A flexible table with leaves--perfect for your smaller family now. I love that you are keeping Tim's workmanship--it will be treasured for generations to come with stories to tell!
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