Happy Holidays!

December 17, 2022: Hi all. I'm still here, just been very busy (who of us is not?) I'm working on updating Maison Newton bit by bit, it's been awhile since I changed things up. Happy Holidays to all, soon the Winter Solstice will arrive and then the days will start to get longer once again, hooray!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

New Console/Buffet Table

Hola darlings!

Things have been nutso around here and I haven't been taking time to blog.  Health issues have cropped up once again and let me tell you, what a pain in the rear end! I appear to be one of a relatively small percentage of people whose a-fib is not behaving according to normal medical protocols.  Sigh. Thought the docs and I had things squared away last November but, no.  A-fib has returned, with a vengeance, as if punishing me for having the gall to try and get it under control.   Lots of drama has been happening at the office too (the TV show ain't got nothing on us),  and I've been spending far too much time watching "full episodes" of various shows at HGTV online instead of taking care of "business" (like taking care of that unfinished family room and getting my butt moving on my bare, stapled-filled stairs). LOL!  What's a single girl to do?  Marry quickly, preferably to someone uber-wealthy.  Know anyone available???

Anyway -- do you remember this gorgeous table? 




I'd purchased it from my youngest sister when she and her hubby sold their house and moved up north earlier this year.  I always admired it's beautiful lines and color, and it's solid wood.  It now anchors a small wall area between the hallway into the kitchen/dinette area on the left and the family room on the right.  A gallery of photos of family and friends fills the wall above the table and I am SOOO happy with how it looks!  It took several tries but I finally got it to a place where I just knew it was right (for me).

I love this table!  I also love my dining table and chairs, I got the set in 2003.  The problem is that these pieces that I love so much do not quite mesh together.  The issue is one of scale:





My dinette set is - large.  The table has a column and plinth base, is 31.6" tall and has a diameter of 56".  It's big, but it's comfy and can seat six with room to spare.  The chairs are 42" tall with 21" wide seats.  The console, in contrast, is 27" tall, 47.6" long and 16" wide.  This photo shows the grim reality:




The side table is - dwarfed. While individually the pieces are beautiful to my eyes, together they just don't quite work in the space.  I recognized the problem from the beginning, but I wanted to see if I could live with it and try to "disguise" some of the issues by decorating slight of hand.  Alas, my decorating skills are amateurish at best.  I didn't even consider, for instance, trying out the pair of tall buffet lamps that hold place of honor on my dresser upstairs.  I'll have to keep that in mind when I get my NEW console table set up!  However, adding height to the top of the table would not disguise its delicate lines and curves, in contrast to the more linear and substantial lines of the dining table and chairs.  [Note: In these photos the side table, which has a cherry finish, looks redder than it appears to me in person, where the finishes of the table/chairs and the side table look more harmonious.   The difference in color-tones in the finishes did not bother me.  But, I have to say my eyes are not what they used to be!]

This is the Threshold Carson Horizontal whatever table/bookshelf/display case at Target:
I'd been eyeing it off and on for awhile, and last Sunday I finally pulled the trigger during a 20% off sale, after reading a couple of reviews that included photos of the assembled unit in REAL home situations -- not professionally photographed to make the product look great.  Two proud new owners who assembled their units left the backing off and the finished piece looked fabulous in the photos.  I was sold!

It arrived Wednesday and now, here it sits:




Today, after doing my lawn cutting and gardening and long bout of relaxing out on the deck this afternoon, I am going to attempt to drag this HEAVY box into the family room, which doubles as my staging area/assembly room, and put it together.  I'm not kidding you, this box is HEAVY - like 65 pounds.  I was barely able to maneuver it from my front porch (where my fabulous UPS delivery person had carefully set it against a sturdy corner wall) down on to the threshold of my front door and from there, shoved it, heaving and heaving and huffing and puffing, into what passes for a foyer in my home (the front door opens directly into the front room).  There it has sat since. 

I bought it in the espresso color, and I'm worried it may be too dark.  But it's hard to judge color finishes online.  The other colors of the piece at the Target website just didn't look - well, I'll see.  I may have made a grave mistake.  Which means maybe I'll paint it -- well, even though it's brand new it is not wood, it's MDF -- that's my excuse...

But the size and scale will, I think, work much better with my dining set.  This Carson console/horizontal bookshelf is 32" tall (adding another 6" in height and definitely balancing the 31.6" tall dining table.)  x 54" long (adding 6.6" in length to anchor the wall) x 13.6 " wide compared to the 16" width of the current table.  So, in addition to getting a piece with lines that are more complimentary to the lines of the dining set (more hefty looking), I'll be getting more length and height, but less depth. I think it will all work together beautifully.  I'll see - and so will you :)

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