New Table!

For Christmas my parents got each of us older kids $500!!! I bought myself a few fun things....book on miracles, a Seahawks phone case and a mixer blade that unfortunately didn't work with my mixer after all so I had to return it. Then I bought the kids the Play-Doh Snack Shack thing and I think I might have bought myself one other thing I just can't think of what it was....so I was left with $400. 

For quite a while now I've really wanted to get a farmhouse table. They are super expensive though! Then a friend of mine on Facebook made one and it only cost her $80 to make. So after some thinking I thought it would be fun for my Dad and I to make one together. First I would get to spend time with my Dad, second I would get the new table I wanted and third I would learn some carpentry skills! 

I found the design I wanted to use online and printed it out and talked it over with my Dad. At first he wasn't quite sure just because he works SO much. It was definitely going to be hard to fit into his schedule, but I assured him that I wasn't in any rush at all. We would just work on it when we could. Then later on after talking with my Mom I decided that we just wouldn't even think about building it until Dad retires in October. I was completely fine with waiting. 

When I first brought it up with Dad he did some looking online and was trying to see if we could just buy one...partially because he thought I wanted it right away and partially because he was worried about fitting it into his schedule. At first I was totally against buying one....the whole purpose was to spend time with him and get the table I wanted. Besides all the tables online were just too expensive and I wasn't about to let them give me more money to buy one. 

In February I just happened to be sitting on the couch one night glancing on Offer Up when I found this beautiful table with a leaf and 6 chairs for $425. The first thing I did was ask if it was still for sale. This is the only thing I hate about Offer Up. Craigslist the ads automatically delete after 7 days. Offer Up still has things on there that people posted a year ago. If they don't go in and say that the item was sold it stays up there and people thing it's still available. So annoying! Anyways she said it was a available. At this point I was just feeling it out and I wasn't super committed. I really didn't want chairs. I want benches. Well I want two chairs and 2 benches. I like having the 2 chairs on the end of the table and the benches on the sides. I asked her if she would consider just selling the table. She said that she would, but since it would be harder to just sell chairs she would charge me $375 for just the table. I thought about that for a minute and realized I still would need two chairs so I asked her if she would take $400 for the set. She said if I could come get it that day I could have it for $400. That's when I started second guessing myself. I only had $400 left from my Christmas money and this was going to take all of it. Plus I still wanted benches and I wouldn't have any money to buy the wood to make them. Decisions Decisions.

I decided to talk to Michael and he seemed fine with it, but I was still unsure. I sent her a message and told her I needed time to think about it. The next day I spent the morning at my friend Alicia's house...there were a few of us MOPS moms there and I brought up the pictures the lady had sent me....

I had specifically asked to see a better picture of the base so she took the top off and took a picture outside so it would have better lighting. Not sure why there was a bunch of 2x4's on it though! 

The table top looked fabulous! 

I wasn't super impressed with the cushions, but those can be changed! 

They were all saying it was a great deal and how beautiful the tables was and it hit me how I really did want it. I sent the lady a message and didn't hear back from her for a while and I was kicking myself thinking she sold it to someone else. Luckily she hadn't and the next day my Mom and I went and picked it up. The funny thing is it seems like whenever I buy stuff off Offer Up I almost always end up buying from other Christians. It always makes me feel good to give my money to a fellow believer! I was able to fit the table base, table top and two chairs in my van and my mom took the other 4 chairs. Mom was going to the ocean the next day so she just took the chairs home since she had to pack and then she brought them up the next week when she watched Zeke. I wasn't in any rush to get the table in the house so it didn't matter in the least. 

The table sat in the garage for a few days before we decided it was time to move it in. 

First thing was to move the old table out. Michael just got right down to business taking it apart before I could take a picture. We ended up storing it in the basement for now. We are contemplating cutting the ends off where the legs are and then attaching the cut side to the wall to make a side table of sorts. We'll see! The main reasons I wanted a new table in the first place is because I hate our table. It's been one of the only purchases that I regretted. It's cherry wood so it is very soft and the cats....back before children...put scratches on the top of it almost immediately. Once we had kids anytime they would bang their silverware on the table they'd make another ding. Plus it didn't weight anything so it was constantly getting pushed around in the room and not staying in place.

Michael and I carried the top in....oh man it's heavy! Then we brought in the base and set the top on that. The guy we bought it from didn't have the hardware to connect them....you know how that goes! The awesome thing is Michael had the exact hardware we needed to connect them. It was totally meant to be!!!

Since Ella's birthday was the very next day we had a bunch of things to do that day. We just got the table in and figured we'd get to the chairs another day. I don't like the chair fabric anyway so I want to change our old chair covers and put them on the new chairs. I also still want to build benches. I'm going to save up for those and by the time my Dad retires we'll be able to make those. I'll still get to spend time with my Dad, get the benches I want and learn some carpentry skills after all. It just won't be quite so stressful trying to build a table as well!