This is our dining table. And I don’t really know what to do with it.
I’m set on keeping it because it’s in fairly good condition and it’s solid wood. But also…
- It fits the scale of our dining room
- It has rounded corners (safer at toddler eye height)
- It’s not at all precious (like a new table might be)
- We already own it (that is, it won’t cost anything)
So it’s a keeper for now, but I am not at all liking the natural wood tone. It doesn’t coordinate with anything else in the room, so a makeover is needed for sure.
I was all set to stain it black until I decided on some chairs that are a dark espresso brown (more on those later). It’s not that brown and black won’t go together; I just think all that dark furniture (plus the curtains and the rest of the furniture) is going to feel way too heavy. I think something a little lighter is in order, but I want to stay away from brown of any shade if possible.
And here’s where I need your help. I have a few ideas, but need some opinions. Here are some rough Photoshop mock ups…
My first instinct was for you to go dark with the legs – black or similar to the color of your chairs – remove the top, add boards, and distress it to make a farmhouse table. Just because that’s what I would do with a table with your base, haha!
I also thought of this pin http://pinterest.com/pin/19112863/. Now that I see your walls, I’d be inclined to go with a creamy white to brighten up the room, but I don’t know how that would look with the chairs?
Sorry I’m not really helping, haha… I do know that I’m not a fan of the green, I like either one solid neutral, or a combo. Good luck!!
I love the high contrast of the black legs with the white top, but if you’re leaning to the gray top that will look great too. I also love Ann Marie’s idea of a plank top. Or you could maybe wrap the top in zinc sheets for a really neat gray look. …Ok, the more I think about it, the more I like the zinc top. 🙂 ha good luck!
I would just go with a tablecloth 😉
Thanks for the ideas! (Even the tablecloth one, Jodi. ha!)
I thought about adding boards to the top, but honestly I think that’s too ambitious of a project for this moment in time. Plus an uneven table top with a lot of crevices for crumbs, etc. is not something I want to be cleaning everyday!
Ann Marie, your pin reminds me of the chalkboard play table I made!
I probably will go with the black legs and a white or gray top and work more color into the room in other ways. I’m not sure those green legs in my mockups do the idea justice. There are a lot of similar tables with colored bases on Pinterest.
Erin! I’m in on the black legs, too. What if you did something graphic with the top? Maybe used masking tape for a green stripe or pattern?
Thanks for the suggestions, Katie! My brain is all over the place. Too many options! I started sanding the table last night, so I still have a little bit of time to think about it. But not much!
I like to lean a little on the wild side and go for the green. You don’t have a lot of wall space for added color on the one wall spot that we can see so adding the green legs with the bit of green in the curtain will help to balance the color scheme. Then your accessories can be whatever you want them to be and you won’t have to lean on always finding something or making something with green. Go green!
Anon, I see what you’re saying. I’m still considering different options, though the green is losing ground. I think I’m going to paint the top first and see how that looks and go from there.