Dining Room

Our dining room table and chairs is probably the thing I like least in my house. It's a very large, very heavy, 1980's black laquer set with white (yes, white!) fabric on the chairs. I'm not in love with the style at all. I hate the fact that the chairs are white fabric. I was going to recover them, but ended up putting slip covers over them instead.

The set was given to us by A's Dad, when he moved to the States. We had just moved into the house, and didn't have a dining table at the time, so it really came in handy. But, it's way too big for our dining room. It just barely fits, and that is without the leaf insert. Put the insert in, and you can't sit at the ends of the table because there is no room left. There are 8 chairs, and we can very comfortably sit 8 people around the table with plenty of room left over for food and elbows. But not much room left to move around the table. So, as long as everyone sits down and doesn't move, we are good.

And when I say it's heavy, I mean it. I can't move it. Not even a little budge to vacuum around it. It's unbelievably heavy... a big solid piece of furniture. In fact... that is the only thing I like about it. With the recent crisis in Japan, it's renewed all kinds of stories here about how we are on a subduction zone plate, and how the same earthquake will happen here one day. We were always taught... take shelter under your desk or a big piece of furniture. So, the dining room is the place I'm headed if there is ever an earthquake here. The house could fall down around me, and I am confident that I would be safe and secure underneath that thing. In fact, if there is ever an earthquake here (large or small), that is where you will find me... cowering under the dining room table!

My sis-in-law is in the process of replacing her dining table and chairs. I'm so totally jealous. I would love to purchase a new set, but we would have to get rid of this one first. Not to mention, there are other, more pressing things I need to spend my money on (like preparing my earthquake kit!). And I'm torn between wanting to get a nice new dining set, but having to give up my earthquake safe place. I'm pretty sure whatever new table we buy, won't be as big or as heavy as this one.