The 315 Poplar Street dining room has plenty of charm. Unfortunately, it is short on space compared to our current home. (Good thing I like charm… )
For the last 30 years, our dining table has been an awesome white oak slab with cedar log legs – the table Ken’s dad had made in Kentucky for his large family (as in 11 children.) We gained possession of our treasured heirloom when we opened our B&B and needed a big table. We had a lovely small walnut Louis XVI table & chairs with cane seats that we exchanged with Ken’s mom for the oak table. She was ecstatic. She kept the oak table in the basement and used it to fold laundry ever since she got her new Formica® drop leaf for the kitchen when the younger kids were small. She was downsizing into an apartment and needed a small table; we were “going public” and needed a large one.” Perfect!
After several year
s, I stripped the old varnish and stained the table a lighter oak color. Loved it. It’s been a good old soul, and I never dreamed of parting with it. Until I bought a house too small to accommodate it. YIKES. (I admit that the Poplar Street dining room appeared larger to me at first view… After we bought the house at auction, I could see that a card table was a pretty good fit for the space. The woman who took our check had one, and it looked right at home.)
Enter Craig’s List. “ISO round table with leaves.” A nice one was listed near Akron, but driving a truck 5 hours up & back seemed a little much. BINGO! Perfect table in great condition in Louisville – only an hour away! This is when a good friend comes in really handy riding shotgun in your rental truck. Too bad the truck didn’t have any blankets or straps, but the ball of twine we purchased on the road worked out just fine! We picked up the table, and 2 leaves, and 6 chairs, and custom table pads, and 6 tablecloths. SCORE.
Since I already owned eight 1920s Queen Anne chairs from the B&B days, I sure didn’t need 6 more. And I wanted a more eclectic look than a matched set. Now enter Jennifer’s Consignments! Maybe the new dining chairs can end up paying for the truck rental. NICE.
Luckily for me, the new round table easily fit in the entry of our current home for a temporary storage solution. I didn’t need a table there, but I think you’ll agree, it looks really nice. And I’m excited about how great it’s going to look in the Poplar Street dining room. Perfect! 
