I’ve been up to my eyeballs with auctions and I’m happy to be taking a break for a little while from them. I spend so much time upstairs searching for the perfect box and then packing things up. It takes time! Lots of time… and I haven’t answered comments in forever… but I do read them… I’m glad you enjoyed seeing the dolls from the Antique shop in PA. Dolls really aren’t Cindy’s thing, so it’s nice when she takes time to send something to me and you all, that makes us smile. :o)
I looked like a bag lady today dragging 2 garbage bags into the Post Office, filled with boxes from the auctions last night. Wasn’t that incredible that it happened tonight to Nellie too? I am just flabbergasted and blessed at the same time!! My guest bed has been full of all kinds of dolly and sewing things I’ve wanted to sell for so long and now that it’s finally happening, I’m hoping to continue when I get back from Debs. Cindy is coming Tuesday and we will leave Wednesday for Springfield, MO. My hubby is staying behind to babysit Reuben and the “girls” in the coop! :o)
My sewing room is a mess, from dragging out things I’ve needed to use and not having time to straighten it up as I went. But I’ll get back to it and soon, there will be lots less to organize. Well, maybe not LOTS, but less…
As I sat down to write the post for tomorrow, I had to draw from my phone to have something to share…
I found a few things that I’ll share… Maybe these next few days I’ll share a few stories with you…
A few weeks ago we went to Cape Girardeau, MO, for a Christmas present for me. My hubby gave me a day of shopping. We hit a few places and then moved to another town… just outside of Cape… Jackson, MO. They have a big Teen Challenge Thrift Store there and usually have lots of furniture. I actually wasn’t looking at the big items yet, but my hubby caught my eye and motioned for me to come look at something.
It was an oak table with 6 chairs and he REALLY liked it. It had the pressed wood design in the back of the chairs, and is actually a Victorian design, I think. He liked it because he could stretch out his legs under the table. When you are 6’4″, it’s hard to sit at a table where there is no room to extend your legs. That was his big selling point (to me) on why we should get this table. It had some light water spots on the top, but there was no wood damage. He was sure it was “Cottage Farmhouse” style (How did he even know that?) and before I knew what was happening, he took the tag up to the front and told the guy he was going to measure our car to see if we could fit it in the back. We have a RAV4, where the seats lay down, but this was a lot of table, a leaf AND 6 chairs to get in there.
I should have taken pictures of him in the parking lot… he had to disassemble every part he could… take the top off the center trunk, remove the claw feet, and then fit the extra leaf and the 6 chairs in the back. Oh… it was windy and FREEZING cold while we were doing this. It was a bit extreme, but he was determined to make it work. He IS a good packer and mover…
So this is what it looked like in the back of the RAV. We could just barley get the back door closed.
We used my gloves and his coat for padding to keep the legs from hitting the glass and the back of the seats. We talked about it all the way home. I didn’t have any idea he was even thinking about getting rid of our old table. It’s a big tank of a table that is solid as they come. I’m serious, if there was ever an earthquake, you know where I’d be. But the base of this table was 2 very large pieces that came down and they were close to where his feet hit. When I show you the pictures you’ll see what I mean. He likes to sit at the end and when he does, his feet hit that piece holding up the table.
So here is the old table…and the piece I’m talking about…
See how his feet would hit against it as he sat at the end?
It’s a very beautiful table with a herringbone inlaid wood top, that we have kept covered for the last 10 or 15 years that we’ve had it. It has 2 big leaves that we put in but the moved the BIG chairs into the living room. It just took up a lot of space, even without any leaves in it and the Windsor style chairs were bug and bulky too.
When we sat up the “New” table from Cape in the dining room, we had to move the “Old” table into the kitchen, so it was like a BIG island.
So here is the new table and chairs set…it is almost the same size as our old table but the chairs take up SO much LESS room around the table.
This is what the chairs look like…
The base of this table has 4 claw feet that extend out from a center base but not too far that it gets in the way of his feet.
I’m working on trying to get out the water spots and then it will be perfect…
In some lighting, you don’t see the spots, but I’m wanting them gone.
I read if you smeared Mayonnaise on the spots and let it set, they would disappear…I let some sit on the spots for 2 1/2 days and I don’t think it did a thing… It’s kind of weird to leave globs of mayo on your table like it’s normal. We might have to go to plan B… whatever that is…
So here’s the end of the Tale of the Table. I listed our OLD table on Facebook Marketplace for the same price as what we paid for the new one and a lady called 2 hours after it was published. She said she wanted it, and she and her hubby drove 35 minutes to get it. My hubby helped him take it apart, and they loaded it up in the back of his truck. She wanted the tablecloth I had custom fit to the table and also the foam core sheets we used to protect the table. They were absolutely thrilled!
So are we!!
Well, that’s my Table Tale…
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What an amazing story of your old and new tables! I can see what you mean, about the old one getting in the way of your husband’s feet. Now for me, that would be perfect–a built-in footrest. (I’m very short, and when you’re short, your feet dangle from most chairs, which gets really uncomfortable after a while, especially if you have arthritis in your knees like I do!)
Congratulations again on your very successful auctions, as well as on the new table–and the sale of your old one in record time!
Amen Charlotte!! I know EXACTLY what you mean by the dangling feet!! LOL!
Nice to hear you mention Jackson, MO, since we have relatives there, and it is close to Cape! It’s out there in the country, for sure!
I do like the way your new table looks in the dining room, and the chairs really make a statement, Jeanne! I can also see how the old table would get in the way of George’s feet,, so this worked out well for you.
I like the way the old table looked in your kitchen as an island as well! You need one in there,and I thought you already had one.
Oh yes, I was amazed at Nellie’s sale! Well deserved!
Bonjour. Ah ,nous avons aussi un rav4 ;c’est incroyable ,tout ce qu’on peut charger dans cette voiture. Votre nouvelle table est bien jolie et sa forme plus conviviale. Je vous souhaite une belle nouvelle année (et aussi ,à vos amies du canapé ! ). Georgina de la France.
Hello. Ah, we also have a Rav4; It’s amazing how much you can load into this car. Your new table is very pretty and its shape more user-friendly. I wish you a happy new year (and also to your friends on the couch!). Georgina from France.
I translated Georgina’s comments from French… She also has a Rav4! Thanks so much Georgina! I’m glad you like our new table. We do too!
Blessings, Jeanne
I can see how your husband would be happy to have more leg room. Both of the tables look very nice. I especially like the new one’s claw feet 🙂 I think my mother in law has similar looking chairs to your new ones. Be careful driving in any snow on the way to Missouri! Hope you have a lot of fun in Springfield! We used to live near there.
Great Table Story, Jeanne! I reminds me of my table story. I have my Great-grandmother’s walnut chairs and could not find a walnut table I could afford. I finally settled on a table that had 2 leaves and was a nice color, but I was from that time when the rage was to make them look ‘old” by beating them with chains and putting dark color in the dents. We took it home and sanded and sanded to get the dents out. Then I put a couple of layers of Tung oil on it. It is not as dark as my chairs but looks nice with them. We don’t have a lot of dinner guests so keeping the leaves out makes a table a perfect size for 4. We are vacationing in the GA mountains, at Helen, so I cannot show a photo, but will do when I get home.
Here I thought you were gone last week, but it is tomorrow your sis arrives. Lack of attention here. Anyway, glad you were able to mail off lots of things and had successful auctions.
Interesting, but yesterday, other person found an old black and white pic of when we had just moved into our house. That was in 1976. Guess what? in our dining room, we had our first table. A lovely old oak with matching blowing north wind figures on the chair backs as well as beautifully caned seats. Probably made in the early 1900’s. Loved that set, but when we put in a leaf that my dad made for us, it was kind of tippy. We looked for a long time for a table with a split base we liked, but never changed out that table. Finally sold it when we bought a new oblong table that was much more comfortable and could fit more people comfortably. But, I still have fond memories of that old oak table and chairs. 🙂
I would say that your table might be a reproduction of the real old ones. Don’t know about the chairs. You can tell by looking at the screws and under table markings if it’s old or not. That saying, the mayo probably won’t work. You might be able to clean the top well and recoat the whole top with new finish which would take care of the spots and also prevent any other spots from forming. It really is an easy job. A paint store should be able to recommend a compatible finish to use. 🙂
And I thought that you had an island in the kitchen? Didn’t you buy one? It is nice to have an extra table in the kitchen though. We don’t have enough room for one here. 🙁
Finally has warmed up and we had a little rain last night. We need more. 🙂
Joy is probably right about the table being a repro. I tend to think the chairs are as well because the Victorian ones wouldn’t have the seat depression. I’ve never seen that on turn of the century antiques. My walnut dining room table with leaves to seat 12 and chairs are Victorian. They are what we had when I was a teen that my parents got at an auction when Victorian was less expensive. It’s also how I have the hall tree I use for doll photos. The chair seats are caned and the backs are carved wood, some with hearts and some with bees with leaf wings (at least that how I see them). With all the leaves out it seats four. I love that style of furniture. Have fun with your sisters, Jeanne.
Dear Jeanne, well you have done it again with a great auction! How wonderful.
I love your chair story. I love that your husband was able to find a table which made him feel comfortable.
Our snow is gone now, thanks to the rain. I am ready for the crazy, hazy, lazy days of Summer!