We've been eating off our knees in front of the tele an awful lot lately. Daddy works long hours without breaks, so likes to come home and catch up on relaxing, chat, the newspapers and TV all while eating. Because he works so hard, I don't like to nag too much about the importance of eating at the table as a family, etc etc.
But it's been driving me nuts.
It's not like we don't have a dining setting. It's in 'the dining room' .. which for some reason, is not conducive to night-time dining. It's kinda dark, in that dour Victorian way.
During the day, it's fine .. lovely for breakfast, lovely for lunch .. brilliant to read the papers at, but at night .. oppressive ...
We tried to bring the table & chairs down to the narrow-ish 'corridor' behind our lounge, but it was too big for the space, so you kind of had to inch around it sideways.
So i've been on the lookout for a smallish setting. Oval shaped, cheap.
This week, I hit the jackpot.
How much for this beautiful table and 6 gorgeous chairs ?
* Fifty Bucks *
Can you believe it ???
You can't buy an IKEA setting made out of the cheapest, softest, crappiest PINE for this money ( I know, I checked ). But I got art deco styling with old fashioned style and quality workmanship.
I am so stoked !!
So Daddy gets his TV-fix, i've got my back to it, and we're all sitting up and eating properly and communicating. It's like a weight lifted.
And the food .. tastes so much better ... :)
20 comments:
It is my long term goal to try and get us eating all together as a family. It isn't easy after W is usually home long after the kids have eaten, and J tends to get hungry and needs to be fed first etc. but I'll keep striving until I get there!
PS those chairs are GORGEOUS!
Way to snap up a great bargain, girl. I like to have family at the table for meals too (although I won't eat with the rest of them at breakfast time, they chew too loudly or something or expect me to talk or care)
Good on you for finding a perfect solution to your problem.
Those chairs are divine. Weekday meals are taken separately here as Mr J is NEVER home in time. But we try hard to do so on the weekends.
I know what you're saying about IKEA. They do some great storage, shelving and casual cabinets; but you're not going to get great materials or much workmanship (seeing you have to put it together yourself!)
Wow! Fifty bucks is a mega bargain for such lovely deco/art nouveau(?) chairs even at second hand prices. Way to shop, girl!
We have issues about sitting at the table for dinner (lunch and breakfast fine) but I wus brung up wrong on that account. Maybe one day. sigh.
Great score.
Just gorgeous. And I'm guessing I know where it came from...I keep driving past and meaning to go in there.
And I'm still slavering over your floorboards, sigh.
As far as I'm concerned, Ikea is only good for storage. I'm always amazed at young marrieds with no money shopping at Freedom and Ikea for everything. (Little boxes, on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky tacky... remember that song? And they all look just the same)
We've been eating outside for breakfast and dinner where possible. My husband hates eating outside, but succumbs when he sees us out there having a good time WITHOUT him.
fifty bucks! Man, that is some find. I think I would just pull those chairs out and stare at them all day, muttering in mantra style "fifty bucks, fifty bucks ..."
I'm with Violet & Rose!
What a gorgeous find!
Enjoy!!
Looks great and fits. Now comes the "etiquette of dining training" Good Luck. Mick sits still for the first 10 mouthfuls, then he's up and down, "help me mummy" as he's jumping around the floor taking a mouthful. And I was sooooo going to have the perfect table mannered boy. Next life maybe!
Glitch in the system. I'm not anonymous. Not sure what happened there.
I have to stick up for Ikea. Over here the price of furniture is astronomical, and good second hand stuff is like gold dust. Ikea really is the only option.
But those chairs are really lovely!
Made your sesame and ginger rice with poached chicken and it was delicious.
Yeah, I like IKEA too.
We have an IKEA couch, i'm typing at an IKEA desk, various IKEA sidetables, my son's whole bedroom is IKEA .. ummm .. our very first dining setting was IKEA ( now with my BIL, except some of the chairs, one I am using and sitting on now ;) Umm .. an IKEA mirror over the new mantle, IKEA bathroom stuff, IKEA kitchen bin, IKEA bowls, assorted kitchen stuff, IKEA stepstool, IKEA hatrack.
This is the house made of IKEA .. with a few other bits n pieces of 'real' stuff thrown in for good measure ;)
That's a great deal, and fabulous chairs. I wish I had such luck finding things like that.
I'm a fan of IKEA - they do have some good stuff and I'm eyeing off a new lounge suite from Freedom...
But to have a dining table and chair like what you've managed to purchase is brilliant! Glad it solved your problems and I agree that there is nothing worse than inching your way past furniture! Urgh.
What a great bargain. For $50 lots of character and cool workmanship and familiy eating togetherness. Looks really good.
I love putting together IKEA bits and pieces. I always feel like I'm such a carpenter when I look at a wall cabinet that I've put together and it's solid and not going to fall apart in any hurry.
: : I can hear my father laughing at that comment in the background now : :
Well spotted on that table and chairs. What a pick-up!
what a score!!!!
I love IKEA, but we don't have one anywhere around us. So I make my in-laws take me when we go out to visit them. I just can't buy anything so big I can't fit it into the suitcase!
Love, love, love the bargain table and chairs! Those are quite pretty and a fabulous bargain! I'm all about second things. It's how I decorate my house. "Second Hand Chic!"
How fantastic is that dining setting!!! I am so pleased for you and jealous!
We have an IKEA dining table surrounded by eight mismatched chairs. Two kids high stools from IKEA and the rest are charity shop finds.
Oh and I agree, family dinners are so important.
We try to have family meals together at the weekends, but it means Hubby and I have to eat at 6pm or earlier to accommodate the girls' timetable. Usually I'm up and down during the entire meal picking up dropped peas or finding different spoons, etc. But I know it will be a wonderful time when the girls are older.
That is a beautiful set of table and chairs and I wish you many, many mess free and happy meals around it :)
FIFTY schmackers?!?!?! Score!!!!
Post a Comment
Hey, You just read me, and this is crazy,
But here's my Blogger, Comment maybe <3