Ok guys and gals, I have two major decisions to make today. This would be doable, except that I am a used up, burned, crispy charred piece of toast. This weekend we cleaned, hauled trash, painted, and moved Ike into his big boy room. I woke up at 2am feeling like I had done a speedball — all hot and anxious and confused about where I was. This morning is not faring much better, and that is why I desperately need your help. Let’s get to it.
Decision #1: Buy a Damn Table Already
I am driving the poor sales rep at the furniture store crazy with my waffling, so I’m determined to order something today. Ok, but do I get a marble tulip table, a white painted tulip table, or a walnut tulip table?
Marble tulip cons:
Most expensive. Unknown quality — the table I’m getting will not be carrara, but some other unknown white marble with less veining (no pictures are available because the marble varies so much). Fragility — how does a giant elliptical piece of marble stay balanced on a small pedestal without breaking???! Staining — am I going to wish I had chosen something easier to maintain? Redundancy — I hope to get marble counters someday and I’m concerned about marble overload.
Pros:
IT’S MARBLE. Is marble overload even possible? I seriously lust after this table.
White painted table cons:
Diminished sex appeal — it’s basically white painted veneer. Unknown quality — no pictures of finished product available. Durability — will it chip and gouge out to reveal veneer underneath? Cleanability — can I scrub the crap out of this without abusing the finish? Length of ship time — it’ll probably take three months to get this table into my hot little hands… gross.
Pros:
Inexpensive (relatively). It’s plain white, so it’ll go with anything. Easier to move. Not concerned about breaking it.
Wood veneer cons:
Wood is bossy — rosewood or walnut will limit my chair options in a major way. Durability — this is veneer so will it gouge out? Not refinishable (veneer). It may clash with my (to be installed in the future) white oak floors.
Pros:
Relatively inexpensive. Available soon. Lighter than marble. Will not limit my counter choices.
Ok, which table should I buy?
Decision #2: Maybe Buy a Cheap Rug While They’re On Sale Today
West Elm has 15% off rugs today. I have sample for this denim and jute rug, and it’s cute but maybe a little juvenile with my coral/pink walls?
Look at me, I made a mockup. Shocking.
They also have plain jute flatwoven rugs. I’m looking at the fourth one down — the flax color. This is kind of boring, but it would allow me to do some fun seating upholstery. No mockup. Sorry, I got tired.
Meanwhile, Overstock is also having a sale. I like this two tone herringbone jute rug, but I’m concerned about staining. Is jute easy care, or is that only seagrass? I know sisal is the worst.
Finally, I could just not buy a rug. I would be missing out a bit on the sales, but perhaps I’m trying to make too many decisions at once…
Who, me?
Opinions? Concerns for my mental health?
I have to go to the doc in a few to do my third trimester blood sugar test… even though I haven’t gained much weight so far, I’m worried that my steady diet of donuts is about to backfire. Anyway, I may not be able to respond to your comments but I will be reading them while people stick needles in me and examine my hoohah.
It’s a good day all around.
Related posts:
I like the marble top.
I’ve read that seagrass is the most stain resistant of the natural fibers, but jute is nice and soft.
- Classic walnut (you can NEVER go wrong with walnut. It’s, well, a classic).
- NO rug (flung pureed sweet potatoes; sloshed cheerios; ground in goldfish crackers. Need I say more?)
- Use whatever you already have for chairs. (the perfect chair will come into your life when you least expect it. Live with what you have until that happens. Chairs aren’t a project: they’re easy to buy, transport and place, and that can be done anytime.)
Most importantly, when you’re starting to feel stressed, repeat this phrase often:
Perfection is the enemy of Good
Now go put your feet up and read a trashy novel, watch something mindless on Netflicks, or take a nap.
Wood veneer.
None of those rugs. They all feel like temporary solutions, and the problem with temporary is that it becomes permanent. Once you have a rug there, it is hard to justify a NEW rug there. The denim and jute one is too casual and might read country, the jute fatwoven will look good for 10.5 seconds, and I would never put a white rug in a room with food and babies.
Good luck!!
i’m going with walnut/wood veneer too. i am sure you will want marble (or something close to it) for your countertops in the future & i think the wood is also a classic! what about an indoor/outdoor rug while the babes are young? dash & albert maybe? they have a new one called “rope denim” or “rope wheat.”
Rosewood!!!!!!! I mean, really how sexy is that. I think the graining of any future white oak is so much tighter that it can’t possible clash. I have successfully refinished veneered pieces, so it can be don. To echo another poster, all of those rugs feel temporoary. Skip it for now. There are a ton of PVC rugs that don’t look it, so that’s something to consider with babies.
Don’t like the rugs. Not worthy of you. And if they were, I would not want you to eat over them.
Rugs under dining tables are for people with a cleaning staff.
I too lust for that very marble table. But I do have black marble tops, and it almost stops me. As if the price didn’t. I do think you can layer marble. Rosewood is pretty too, but I agree it limits you more with chair choice.
STEP AWAY FROM THE MARBLE! IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN WHITE MARBLE WILL MAKE YOU INSANE. White marble etches. Sealers do not stop the madness. Anything remotely acidic that sits on the surface for more than TWO MINUTES will leave an etch stain in the stone. NOTHING other than a sanding of the entire surface will remove the etching. Kids leave a glass of juice on the damn thing for a minute, you leave a glass of wine uncoastered, and lookeee a new circular tattoo. The spills etch into opaque blobs. I’ve tried polish. I’ve tried a nail buffer . I brought in a professional. Beautiful but crazy impractical unless you want to spend every minute of your life with a table cloth all over that thing.
I’m loving the Marble but Karen has me sacred, and I think I need to jailed for even suggesting that with your crazy life. So go watch last night’s episode again of Game of Thrones and the answer will magically appear…LOL
Good Luck
I would never put a rug under a table with kids. Or adults – I don’t like chair legs catching on the fibers. I’d also like to give a shout out to glass tables with kids – but not the scary edge kind. Just a topper kind of thing. You can leave a sticky mess – paint, flubber, applesauce, permanent marker, whatever – for a week with no damage. And clean up is easy. I’ve had mine for seven years with kids. It’s nice. I might get the cheaper material and have a tempered glass top cut to size.
I had a boyfriend in high school who lost half a pinky when he was a toddler because he was hanging from the edge of a table. Up until that day it had been fine, but it couldn’t support his weight anymore and it came down and chopped his pinky off. With two little boys in the house, I would reconsider the whole tulip table idea. I swear I’m not trying to ruin your day. ;(
No on the rugs. They all look like they’d bunch up when chairs were moved. Big trip hazard.
Keep the table you have until the kids are in their teens, paint it over every three years, then get the marble one.
While Erica W has a point, on the topic of tulip tables I vote walnut or rosewood. If it gets super damaged, you can always paint it or strip and stain yourself (in a way I’m guessing you don’t want to sand down your own marble). I think it will be a nice break from your future marble countertops–too much marble is possible, but I don’t think too much is “bad” per se, just not ideal. I also think it is a little more unexpected than the marble, which is nice.
I like the walnut. Or the white. For what these things cost, do the surfaces not come with a warranty? They really should.
I don’t have kids, but I feel like a strictly and consistently enforced discipline policy about hanging on tables should be started at the age of ambulation. And I’m not sure the temptation to hang on a table would be universal anyway – I was a little nuts, and I’ve never hung on a table in my life. If it had a LOT of chairs around it, that might be a visual clue that it would not be fun to hang on.
All the carpets are no, I think. And, honestly, I do have a carpet under my dining room table. (Oriental. Busy pattern that helps me forget how much I need to vacuum it.) But I don’t have kids. I think I would have nightmares if I had a dining room table (let alone a kitchen table) over a carpet with small children. But I would recommend checking out Mad Mats, because you can literally (which word I only use when I mean it LITERALLY) hose them down, and because I have a small love affair with them, though I don’t recall anything off the top of my head that would match your coral.
Good luck.
1. Walnut table. When you get tired of that, paint it white. When you get tired of that, strip it and refinish the walnut.
2. No rug, for lots of reasons, but particularly because 15% off isn’t THAT great of a deal, you know?
I love watching you turn a builder beige house into something very stylish and wonderful.
I have marble countertops in my bathroom, and just know that they will stain, no matter how diligent you are about cleaning it up, a stain will be there as soon as you turn your back. As people have said, it does kind of add to the Patina and you just have to get over it, but if you can’t, don’t get marble. We are talking about a real tulip table right? If so, do you really have to worry about the quality? Get white, it goes with anything, any chair, any paint, any future countertops, any rug, and I doubt it will get ruined.
Okay, what the heck is going on with all these children swinging on tables. Seriously, my three boys can be wild animals. Soccer matches in my kitchen are a daily occurrence and every time that damn ball hits my cabinets I think I’m going to lose my mind. It’s like clash of the titans at my house. NO JOKE. BUT, no one has every tried swinging on the tulip table. Never. Ever. Are my children just not that creative? Soooo, I can’t attest to the quality of the table you are ordering and wish they could provide you with more info, but I can tell you that I have not for a second worried about mine tipping over or the marble snapping. And as for the marble, I still love it. The Saarinen marble version is coated. I’ve had it for years. Yes, there are very fine scratches, but not a single chip or stain and we eat at that table every single day. If the one you are considering has a similarly coated surface, do not worry about staining. But it really sounds to me at this point that you are seriously fretting over marble times two in the kitchen and dining area…which tells me that you probably should not get the marble version. In which case I would go with the white. Because wood veneer, in a dining area that will be used daily, scares the shit out of me. Yes, I foresee chips, and nicks, and water marks and that will drive you batty. Just ask ModFruGal about her table. Worst case scenario with the white, slap a coat of paint on it. Still, I think the natural stone, even if it is not perfect carrara, will age the best. Just think 500 year old French chateau.
Rugs? Keep looking. Girl, you can do way better than that. The next craigslist find is just around the corner.
marble. no other choice- just do it.
and all the rug options are boring, so HOLD OFF. if you were my client, with two small kids, i would recommend ONLY indoor/outdoor carpeting for under a table with toddlers, or cowhide (pieced or natural shape). they are the only things that will hold up without looking crappy in 2 weeks.
i had a plexiglass cover made for my cherry table (rectangular), because i had the tripp trapp highchair and my kids ate at the table, not off a tray. it was really gauche but it worked. cover had an edge on it so it didn’t slide around. in our previous home the dining area was carpeted (ugh) so i made a mexican oilcloth dropcloth, too. btw, have you seen http://fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com/ ? my house is very f*able.
Oh what the hell, I’ll offer an opinion. I have a dining room table with a veneer top. It was a hand-me-down and built to last except that something was spilled on it many years ago (before I got it) and it’s warped and now you have to have a tablecloth on it at all times. I just don’t think veneer ages well and if you’re spending significant moola, you should go with something hardier.
I LOVE the way the marble looks, and while it gives the impression that it’ll survive armageddon, I admit I have no personal experience with how it ages.
If your kids are going to eat at this table, then I must agree: no rug.
Rugs USA is having an 85% off summer blowout sale. Seriously, you can get a $1,000 rug for $150! Sadly, they have nothing that will work in my living room, which is where I desperately need one.
Ah speed balls…. my 20′s were very fun times…..
But onto more pertinent & grown up matters. I kinda think this design table needs to be the marble top. The veneer tops in that style dont get my heart racing…unlike as above!!
1. Get the marble!! I have it and three kids and white marble counter tops. Love it all! Blue Dawn got out red sharpie drawn on by youngest child. Do you use Blue Dawn? Magic in a bottle.
2. No rug for awhile. We have sisal… and a big vacuum.
3. Go with the middle paint color for your cabinets. No two tone… too busy.
You are right the wood is too bossy. Unless you want black chairs. Then it’s ok. I like the marble.
As always, Miss Nelya is spot on, as is Christian, IMHO.
I think marble is the only way, splurge for extra sealant if needed. Living with the marble table will be a really good litmus test for whether you want to live with the surface for your counters. The wood veneers will compete not only with many chairs, but with your future hardwoods (see how I’m looking out for other future renos you mentioned?
If you decide against the stone, then I say white rather than wood.
No rugs. Not now anyway.
Your walls are begging for the marble top. And it’ll look good adjacent to your kitchen with black cabinets
Hi Erin,
I would pass on that denim rug. It might look too country and your walls and lighting are way too classy for it…
Not sure about the table. I love glass tops but then again I don’t have kids. Good luck!
I am team marble as well. Mostly because it looks fabulous, and it seems that it’s your favorite. Sometimes, you just have to go with your favorite and cross fingers that it winds up being OK. I agree with the above comments about the rug, but I know how you feel about the tile. If you’re desperate to cover part of it, get the dang rug! Buying a rug and then ultimately (possibly) not using it is not the end of the world. Lordy, I should know.
For me, it would be a hard decision between the white wood and the marble. I have white marble counters in my kitchen – they stain & etch & chip. I still love them though. Since the marble is only like $300 more it would seem silly to get the white wood BUT maybe the wood is more practical!!? Also, I am thinking that the white marble with your current granite would look busy and kinda clashy and drive you nuts. Don’t you have a doorway into that dining room from the kitchen for access… because if you do I would totally go marble
Otherwise I would do white wood.
Dammit I hate it when I get behind on my Design Crisis. Though I think we’ve already discussed these topics. You know I support marble and I also support a bare floor, so you done did good. I’m back from blogfest and I feel all sorts of behind. What the hell is happening with you?
i hope you went with marble–the wood, though gorg, is DEFINITELY waayyy too bossy and can really box you in with regard to dining chairs. but, of course, if you already got the wood than i’m sure you will love it and it will be beautiful!
good luck!
dayka
I’m sooo late to this game but I vote marble despite the stains and chips and missing fingers
it’s just so pretty! But, the walnut is really nice as well, I don’t think you can make a mistake as far as a tulip table is concerned. So classic!
We have plans to get a tulip table as well – are you buying it locally in Austin? We are in Austin too, please share your source!
And your other post has inspired me to go to the outlet mall tomorrow yippee!
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