I was recently in the new home that my friend Leslie and her husband had built. It's in one of the new subdivisions outside the city limits, and it is in a very nice (although not particularly quiet) neighborhood. he reason is it snot very quiet is because everyone wants to build in the same new area, so, you get an influx of traffic by both the families that have recently purchases homes there as well as an onslaught of motor and foot traffic of people that either wish to purchase and build at the site, or wish they could.
She gave me a tour of the new home, and I will admit that it is beautiful. New homes have that 'new home smell' of fresh construction, and this one was no different. It is a 4 bedroom, 2 and a half bath multi-story home with a semi open floor plan. The kitchen, although small for a two thousand square foot home, is beautifully lit with plenty of natural light thanks to some big windows.
The dining room on the other hand, well, is a disaster.
Let me back up a bit and say that Leslie had wanted an elegant, 'formal' dining room that would fit her new 10 person oak table and chair set. It seems to me that the designers had spent to much space on the family room, which I assume is the normal since that's where many families spend most of their time together. The problem is, the house was designed to sacrifice space from the kitchen and dining room in order to obtain it. This makes the dining room appear crowded (which it is).
Well this actually presents two problems. For starters, the dining room table is way to big for the room. This is hampered even more by a rug that is too small for the table. When choosing a dining room rug it is important that the rug is big enough to cover the area of the table and the chairs. This one was clearly not. Another problem was the flooring. She went with an irregular pattern tile floor that was not uniform as far as height goes. This is an issue as far as cleaning is concerned, as well holding the rug in place as well as the table balance.
If you are going for an elegant look, the only material you should consider is wood flooring. The reason for this is that it matches almost any decor, and wood floors will last longer then tile under heavy foot traffic. Again, this is all subjective, but something to keep in mind when you are building a new home.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Monday, December 30, 2013
The Family Dining Room Table - Worth Fighting For?
I got into a huge discussion with my sister over Christmas about who
gets what when our parents pass away. Here's how the problem started.
My younger sister said that everything my parents have should be donated to charity. Now, they don't have a lot but neither do we, and I'm not sure what charity is going to do with a bunch of antique toys. Anyway the discussion started to break down further into who get's what.
After going through all the normal things like the toys, clothes, jewerly, and other crap we came to the dining room table.
Let me paint a mental picture for you exactly what this table is.
When it comes to things like simple round dining tables this is about as basic as it gets. It's a simple oak, two leaf setup with a light stain. Overall, the table is next to nothing to look at. I'd say it's about 25 years old at this point and has held up extremely well. That's because my mother keeps things in fantastic shape and my dad has refinished it at least twice.
I remember when he bought the table in the late 1980's. He picked it up from our local Art Van furniture store, who at the time would sell you unfinished wood furnishings. I don't know why that's important but anyways he got the table home and finished both it, and the matching chairs, with the light stained that he likes so much and then placed it all in the dining room. He let it dry first, of course.
He had it for about a month or so then my sisters boyfriend at the time spilled some glue on it. My dad was so furious he pounded the table and said he just bought the #$!@# thing and now everyone is messing it all up. This moment stuck with me for whatever reason, and my dad has no memory of it, but it's just one of the things that makes me love the table.
So I told my sisters this story, who also had no memory of it, and we discussed at length about who would get the table. My older sister pretty much wants everything my parents possess but I'm not big on the money part of it, I want the things with sentimental value. The table is the centerpiece of the house. I don't think even the living room holds as many memories as that table. It's an heirloom piece and should be treated as such. It's one of the reasons that I want it. I currently don't have a dining room table so that's another reason I want it but that's besides the point.
The long story short is that when it comes to wanting to divvy up your parents things it should be less about what something is worth and more about the memories that the item carries. I have more fond memories of my fathers beat up 30 year old hammer then I do of his antique collection. It all comes down to what you hold most valuable, and in my case, a table full of memories is worth more then anything.
My younger sister said that everything my parents have should be donated to charity. Now, they don't have a lot but neither do we, and I'm not sure what charity is going to do with a bunch of antique toys. Anyway the discussion started to break down further into who get's what.
After going through all the normal things like the toys, clothes, jewerly, and other crap we came to the dining room table.
Let me paint a mental picture for you exactly what this table is.
When it comes to things like simple round dining tables this is about as basic as it gets. It's a simple oak, two leaf setup with a light stain. Overall, the table is next to nothing to look at. I'd say it's about 25 years old at this point and has held up extremely well. That's because my mother keeps things in fantastic shape and my dad has refinished it at least twice.
I remember when he bought the table in the late 1980's. He picked it up from our local Art Van furniture store, who at the time would sell you unfinished wood furnishings. I don't know why that's important but anyways he got the table home and finished both it, and the matching chairs, with the light stained that he likes so much and then placed it all in the dining room. He let it dry first, of course.
He had it for about a month or so then my sisters boyfriend at the time spilled some glue on it. My dad was so furious he pounded the table and said he just bought the #$!@# thing and now everyone is messing it all up. This moment stuck with me for whatever reason, and my dad has no memory of it, but it's just one of the things that makes me love the table.
So I told my sisters this story, who also had no memory of it, and we discussed at length about who would get the table. My older sister pretty much wants everything my parents possess but I'm not big on the money part of it, I want the things with sentimental value. The table is the centerpiece of the house. I don't think even the living room holds as many memories as that table. It's an heirloom piece and should be treated as such. It's one of the reasons that I want it. I currently don't have a dining room table so that's another reason I want it but that's besides the point.
The long story short is that when it comes to wanting to divvy up your parents things it should be less about what something is worth and more about the memories that the item carries. I have more fond memories of my fathers beat up 30 year old hammer then I do of his antique collection. It all comes down to what you hold most valuable, and in my case, a table full of memories is worth more then anything.
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