the old and the new

I get the urge to change things around every now and then. I've had on my mind to sell this old table that for many years has been our dining room table. We bought it from a retired couple who lived in Pennsylvania and raised their family around it. I wonder what stories they'd tell about the table? The problem with these wonderful old oak tables is that they can expand forever. And stretch it out we did-- one time sitting 13 people around it. The difficulty is keeping such a long table stable with only the center support. We finagled all kinds of ways, but it became sort of a pain, as each time we were having a large group, we were under the table putting in the supports we'd made. Some of our extra leaves were homemade. I never liked it's wideness, as it crowded our small dining room.

But when I got down to seriously selling it, I couldn't.  With new eyes I saw the beauty of its age. I remembered home schooling our boys at it. Hundreds of people have sat around that table. I thought about all the dinner parties, family meals, holiday celebrations ... it's a big part of our history as hospitality is important to us. So we decided to see what it looked like down to its small round size in the kitchen. Loved it.

And the very next day the P*ttery B*rn catalog arrived. Guess what I saw in it? Not that I'm a slave to trends, but it's kind of nice to see PB selling a new version of our vintage table.

Now the question is, the old chairs around the table: to paint or not, and if so, what color? Black. White. Blue. Or not at all. I'm leaning towards the first color.

Connecting today with Cindy's Show and Tell Fridays