Thursday, June 16, 2005

It could have been so beautiful.

Who waited six weeks to have their new damn kitchen table delivered and decided a week before the scheduled delivery date that they didn’t want it? Um… that would be the always brilliant me.

I don’t often have buyers remorse. I’m normally a make a decision and stick with it kind of girl – but this table has been bothering me since I ordered it. The day I picked out the table I went to four furniture stores to compare tables and prices. I was looking for a sturdy wood table that was large enough that it would’nt look preposterous in our large kitchen. Our cabinets are light wood, so though I personally prefer dark woods I was looking for something to match the cabinets. But I really fell in love with the table I ordered – it was a large square table with simple lines and not a lot of ornamentation, and at the sale price I couldn’t find anything comparable. But there were three problems with it. 1) It was ginger – and I wasn’t sure it was exactly the right color for the kitchen. However between the cabinets, baseboards, and back door there are three different colors of wood in our kitchen and the ginger did match with one of them so I decided to overlook this. 2) It was technically a dining room table. Of course I was having a hard time finding any tables designated as a “kitchen table.” Do people not eat in their kitchens any more? Or is any room you dine in a dining room? I decided to overlook this because I figured if I put it in the kitchen then it was a kitchen table. Nuff said. 3) The height. One of the things I loved about the table is that it was at “gathering” height. This means that the chairs and tables are at about counter top height. It looked really sharp and I figured it would be a great benefit to my lanky 6’ 4” husband who normally has to have his knees up around his shoulders. However a tall table doesn’t seem the best idea for a family. In fact for a couple with one infant and hopes to have at least one other child a tall table seems like an extraordinarily stupid idea. Not only would the kids have to be ten before they could get in and out of the seats themselves, if they fall its a longer drop. But I told myself that it wouldn’t be a problem because I really liked the taller height.

So I ordered the table and the saleswoman told me it would be on backorder for 3-4 weeks. Immediately after ordering it I began questioning my decision. It’s now six weeks later and I decided this morning to cancel. To me the long wait was an omen – the fates were trying to tell me that the table wasn’t right for us. Of course the long wait also shows that JC Penney sucks. I bought that table on the first day of their highly publicized Home Sale – so you would think they might have a few of them in stock and not have to have customers wait to have them shipped from China. Oh well. Now I’m feeling grumpy because we’ve been eating on TV tables in the middle of our kitchen for a month and a half and we’re back at square one. At least now I can try to get a more practical table that children can actually sit at. I’m such an idiot.

Crap. This is sort of a Noah free post – isn’t it? And this is the Noah blog. So hmmmm… Noah is anxiously awaiting future furniture shopping. Today when I was glancing at an Ikea catalog trying to convince myself that their tables weren’t SO rickety that a child could pull them on top of himself Noah started ripping the catalog to shreds. Is that an omen too?

8 comments:

MC said...

I believe that they just sell all tables as dining tables. As for IKEA, I would suggest going to the store and really looking at the sturdiness of the tables there. I am sure you can fing some great stuff there. I believe that our current kitchen table came from either Sam's Club or Wal-Mart. And it's sturdy. It is actually similar to the one that you had picked out...but it's a blonde wood. It's really nice! Anyway, good luck on your search!

Marksthespot said...

Probably it's for the best. The kids might have looked like Lilliputians at that beautiful high table. And to sooth their injured egos, they then would have set about destroying the thing.

Missuz J said...

A kitchen table has to be perfect. It's one of those things that becomes an extention of your family. Company always ends up sitting around the table--no matter how hard you try to move them to the living room (mine does at least). Your kids will eat there, do homework there. You will spend hours trying to keep the endless clutter from piling up on it (oh--that's me) so stick to your gut feelings, and don't settle for anything less than exactly what you want.

Katy said...

Better to have canceled now than to have had to live with a choice you weren't a hundred percent sure of to begin with. Now you won't have to look at it and say "damn that things tall" though for tall people everywhere I say WHOOPEE!!! gathering height ROCKS!!!!

NME said...

Thanks for your support! I am rejuvenated in my quest for the perfect kitchen table at a low, low price. I will not be daunted.

sarah said...

yeah, definitely LOOK at the tables at the ikea. they have some nice stuff, but the stuff i liked best was unfinished, so you can stain it any color you want.


sarah
www.misanthropic-tendencies.com

hazel said...

oh, I'm going to miss that table. we could have really had something there.

I vote stick with tv tables. expandable! collapseable! versatile! moveable! shakeable! breakable! and lastly, klassy!

your table is out there somewhere, nicole. you'll meet it, across a crowded sales floor filled with expensive tables that all hang out with chairs that have obviously fake wood and rickety tables that try to make themselves out to be stable, only to flake out on their committment in 6 months or so. no, you'll find your soultable, the one that you were MEANT to eat at. it will happen. but you just can't rush it.

NME said...

I leave the staining to the experts - like Noah. Seriously I'm about as handy and crafty as a cat. Unless your cat is crafty or handy. Then I'm less crafy and handy than your cat.

And Patrice, thank you! You've given me new hope. I now feel like I can dream again. I can try again. I can love again.