This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. Read my full disclosure policy here.
Hi friends and happy FriYay!!! Have you seen all the fun befores with the Fall One Room Challenge commencing this week? I’m a spectator this round and am super excited to tune into every week!
With the newest ORC season upon us, I figured I’d share some updates to my last ORC project with you.
Last spring my mission was to finish up some of the details of our family room, which has been a work in progress for, oh, six years. During those 6 weeks I bought a new rug, painted the walls, banged out the reupholstering of two chairs, and painted and styled the bookcases flanking the fireplace.
We have been on the hunt for a new coffee table for this room for ages, and during the ORC I mulled over metal parquet top tables, which I am completely obsessed with. Remember when I asked for help to decide on one?
{You can read the wood and price comparison of these five tables here.}
I saw the tables from Crate and Barrel (#2), Pottery Barn (#3) and Restoration Hardware (#5) in person, and while I really like them all, the dimensions were okay but not exactly what I was looking for, and I kept thinking about my big brown leather sofa with a big brown wood coffee table and ALL the different woods and styles and colors that I am already trying to mesh together cohesively in our current house and GAHHHHHHHHH.
Decision making meltdown.
Long story short none of these felt right for our room and I just could not possibly think anymore about coffee tables. COULD NOT. Because there are so many other more important things in the world to make my brain hurt than coffee table decision making.
Months went by and I refinished our dining room table on a whim, from dark and rich to limed and light.
The same week that I limed the dining table, I saw an ad for this farmhouse table and clicked over out of idle curiosity, only to discover that there are several pieces to the line, including a coffee table. I read the reviews and >BAM<, ordered one just like that! No mulling, no thinking on it for days. I figured I could always return it if it was really cheesy and awful.
I DIDN’T tell Mark because he would have vetoed this purchase for sure if he knew in advance. We love Tarjay for things like school supplies and snacks and Gatorade and laundry detergent and cute cheap tops, but for wood furniture we want to last through the years? It’s not usually the first place we’d turn.
SO long story longer – I very skeptically got it – put it together – and it’s PERFECT!!!!!!
I was dying for Mark to come home so I could pretend I bought it at the Restoration Hardware outlet. Because it DOES NOT LOOK LIKE I BOUGHT IT AT A STORE THAT SELLS GROCERIES. I’m yelling because it’s all very exciting. I mean right?????? Are you with me?
It shows in some of these photographs as kind of honey-ish in color, but it’s actually a muted gray-toned honey. How do you like that color description????
Is it real reclaimed wood from a 200 year old barn? No.
Is it handcrafted and special? No.
Does it have that cowboy patina I love in our dining table? No.
Is it a SOLID piece of furniture? YES! It’s actually heavy and sturdy.
Does it look like it’s from a real, grown up, non-dorm room furniture store? YES!!!! I’d say it does!!
Can you tell that I am shocked to find myself LOVING IT?! After all my hemming and hawing and preaching about highs and lows and investment pieces to clients and to Mark, I bought a piece of wood furniture that requires assembling (SUPER EASY BY THE WAY!) and am totally happy with it. And I’m happy with myself that I’m happy with it, because let’s face it, I have commitment issues with things like furniture.
On top of being the winner color, style and size-wise, it was a steal as far as coffee tables go so that is an added bonus. I love the dining bench in this collection too – great for smooshing lots of bodies into the table at the holidays! If I hadn’t already built a bench I would snatch this one up in a heartbeat.
That’s the excitement over the coffee table.
In other big Shine Your Light news 🙂 , today the lovely and amazing Rhoda of Southern Hospitality is featuring our humble abode!! I started following Rhoda years and years ago when I first discovered blogging and it’s such a thrill to be over there. Her original stair runner tutorial was the impetus for my DIY seagrass stair runner installation and I’ve been inspired by Rhoda and her DIYs so many times over the years!
Lots of recent house updates are included in my tour over there, you can check it out here. While you’re there don’t miss the tour of Rhoda’s own house that she’s been fixing up with tons of creativity, it’s gorgeous!
Wishing you a happy, fun, relaxing weekend ahead my friends! Thanks for stopping by today!
