The table

We now have a dining room table! I never would have guessed I would be this excited about such a seemingly small thing but that's what makes life interesting, I suppose. This place is cramped and the area which would normally be designated as the dining room has been piled with boxes and other things so much that I thought we couldn't fit one so I had resigned myself to a less-formal arrangement for the duration and left my perpetual request for a table fall into the standing-joke category (hahahaha). When out of the blue last Saturday my wonderful husband surprised me with the news that we were in possession of a real table! He seriously could have used this surprise for Christmas or my birthday present, I was that thrilled. The night we got it in, he set it up for me and I spent the rest of the evening re-arranging the boxes in our (actual, now) dining room so we could fit the chairs around this wonderful table. Now from my description you may have some idea that there is something extra-special about this table and I truly feel as though there is but when it comes down to the basic facts, it's one of the plain ikea tables that we rescued from the garbage. Lovely. But let me explain a little and maybe you'll see just why it is just perfect for us. Back when I was still hopeful we could fit one (before fifty-plus more boxes were brought to our place to store) I had my eye on this exact model of table. I liked it because it is solid wood, matches my bookcase, is small enough to fit without being too small to use, has a simple, classic design, and doesn't seem too heavy or awkward. As affordable as ikea is in general I still looked around for ads for used ones and even had an episode where I almost bought one for fifty dollars (I think, maybe even less) but it fell through. But what is even better than buying used? Getting free (and saving landfills, right?). Sure, the last owners tried to paint what looks like a close-up of a peacock feather on the entire top but they didn't do a half-bad job (I can think of a lot of other things that could be worse) and I have a nice collection of tablecloths I had acquired during my RA days that I have been itching to get out. Eventually I think my handyman will probably sand it down and re-finish it but until then I'm actually enjoying having to air my assortment. There isn't a single thing that I would change about that table. Even after all of that you may still be thinking I'm going a bit extreme about it but I am truly beyond ecstatic! Remember I never said I wasn't crazy.