On cheap tables

[bertie_girl]

It's time to buy a kitchen table! If you have any thoughts about the following options (listed in no particular order), please share them.

Option 1:

Comments

[littlecatfeet]

I like Option #1 the best. It says "Swedish farmhouse" to me in a way that's very comforting. Of course, that could be because my mother hung Carl Laarson paintings all over our house and I'm pretty sure that exact dining set is somewhere in his house.

I don't like Option #3.

I'm neutral on Option #2.

[bertie_girl]

Yeah, option 3 was really only in the mix because our floor is a dark, flecked gray. The black metal would have been a small attempt at complementing the other colors in the room. The added advantages were 1) possibly less wobbly/more stable and 2) it's 5" longer than the other two tables.

But it's still iffy, and I also greatly prefer option 1 :)

[everysecretcode]

I like Options 1 and 2. Option 1 more, though.

[bertie_girl]

Hurrah for IKEA! Somehow, I seem to think that IKEA furniture will be more reliable than Kmart furniture :) (Perhaps not an unfounded thought--being in the business of assembly-required furniture, they appear to have the system down pat.)

[nh_dori]

My favorite is option 2.

I, also, do not like option 3.

Option 1 is okay, but nothing to write home about.

Yay for IKEA! Dennis and I will be good friends with IKEA soon. Of course, our souls will belong to the bank, so we might have to limit furniture buying to the bare necessities. Tee hee.

[satakieli]

I like option 1; the finish looks less fragile to me than option 2's. And it also looks cozy to me in a way that makes little rational sense. As long as the sides aren't too narrow to accept the chairs, that is... at lest leaving the possiblity open is useful. Option 3 would be out if it were me choosing because metal on my back is brr, and the chairs say "danger for catching long hair". Not that wooden chairs don't catch hair too. Nope, my preferences are completely irrational. Ah well.

They're all quite attractive.

[bertie_girl]

Irrationality is what keeps life refreshing! You pointed out factors that I hadn't considered--the temperature and the catchiness of metal with hair--and I agree that there's something flakey about the finish with option 2. "Flakey" meant in a perfectly literal sense: I'd be worried about a veneer pulling away. The description says that it's solid wood, but they might or might not consider a veneer to be within that description. IKEA, on the other hand, plainly states when something is made from something other than a single piece of solid wood. Pine might be cheap, but I prefer knowing that the finish isn't going to peel off.

And, yes, the first table looks cozy to me, too. Perhaps it's a pioneer sensibility seeping through ... ?

[bertie_girl]

If things don't go well at IKEA (I'm driving there because shipping costs more than the table), I'll look into Target! I ruled out their options for some reason ... price, maybe. But free shipping would balance it out. Thanks for the info!