Homemaking - The Dinner Table

So, we spent the first few weeks eating around on a fold up banquet table. There was a counter-top black dining table like this in the basement that the owners are storing down there, so I thought I'd bring it up to try it out, see if we liked it and wanted to buy it from them.


We've looked at tables like this over the years but never made the purchase. Glad we were able to try it out first, cause my opinion: since it is so high it is hard for me to wipe it off (I don't think it's just cause I've got a large pregnant belly right now) plus this one had little design grooves in the table caught lot's of food and crumbs, extra work to wipe those out to get clean. Lots of places for sticky hands to do their grimy work on the backs of the chairs and arm rest of the bench - so I started thinking that the set up with a table and benches that we had in our other house was pretty functional for our family, not as stylish, but I'll work on the style after the functional is taken care of. I found a table on KSL classifieds exactly like the one we sold as we prepared to leave to Costa Rica - I sold it for a steal at $60 and was able to buy this one for $60! Sweet! So I moved the stylish black counter top table and chairs back downstairs this morning with Joe's help, and we set up the new table like our old table. Here's our family dinner table now-


I like how our benches fit the length of the table perfectly, and benches are easy to wipe off and sweep under, plus they make the room seem more spacious since they don't have any backs. Added bonus: each bench could easily fit 5-7 kids on if needed. These are two benches that my parents had for me and my 6 siblings growing up - still constructionally sound (is that a proper word/phrase), but could use a good sanding. I'll tackle that project soon (although I said that last time I had 3 years to do it.)

As for decorating the rest of the home, I read this today and liked this idea of creating child friendly spaces throughout your home - the kids go in every room anyway, I think that's a good idea to let them know they're welcome in each room. We'll see what we come up with :)