Ray and I moved into our house almost five and a half years ago. We didn’t have a dining room table. Our house has a mid-century/contemporary feel to it.
One day when the house was under construction, while visiting Ray’s mother in California, we were sitting around the dining room table talking. I looked over at one of the captain’s chairs (the set has two) and noticed that the chair had some really cool angles going on. I had never noticed that before.
Since I can remember, the dining table at Ray’s mom’s house was covered with a huge tablecloth. The upholstery was some sort of tan woven vinyl and the wood was dark brown. I never took notice of it.
Suddenly my interest was getting the best of me. I lifted up the heavy over-sized tablecloth and saw this:
I motioned to Ray and mouthed, “Look at this!” Ray took a look and then did a double-take. Ray’s mom had a totally cool dining set! She was also 89 years old and slowing down. We decided to hold off on buying a dining room set. What’s the rush?
Fast forward five years. Ray’s mom is still here but bedridden and really, really slowing down. We’ve been using a nasty old folding banquet table with cheap white stackable plastic chairs. I was starting to get impatient with our “temporary” dining set.
Once again, we were visiting Ray’s mom. I sat down on one of the chairs and noticed it was very wobbly. I took a look at the chairs and discovered they were all on the verge of collapse. I got worried. Ray talked to his siblings and they agreed that it would be OK to take the set. Ray’s mother had been bedridden in the back room for a year. It was better to take the table and have it repaired than to have it break.
During the time we were waiting for the dining set, we had noticed that there were a few other pieces of furniture that would do well in our house. Two rocking chairs and a bedroom set.
A couple of months ago, we rented a truck and drove the dining set, bedroom set and two rockers from California to Arizona. The bedroom set was in mint condition.
Coincidently, it’s the same bedroom set that Major Anthony Nelson has in his room on the I Dream of Jeannie television series.
The dining table and rocking chairs needed some work so we took them to Dadd’s Refinishing & Upholstery in Sierra Vista.
We just got everything back yesterday. Ray and I are both very pleased with the work. The table was completely stripped and returned to its blond color. (Ray’s mom had it stained dark brown in the 70’s – because that’s what you did back then.) All the chairs were refurbished and are sturdy again.
The rockers were reupholstered and restained. We put one in the Master bedroom and one in the guest room.
We finally have a dining set! We finally have a bedroom set! For five years our bedroom was nothing but a king-size mattress & box spring on a frame flanked by two outdoor folding tables as night stands. It looked like a dorm room.
I am very thankful to have this furniture. It’s nice to keep it in the family and it really goes well with our home – which now actually feels like a home.
I know, it’s kind of stupid to get excited over furniture but for some reason, it just makes me feel a sense of completion. Our house is finally furnished.
Finally…
Furnished…
Well I will miss that collectible plastic table and chairs!!!!
Someday I have to bring back from Michigan my grandmother’s spindle-back couch and my great grandfather’s table.
Five years we had that collectible plastic table and chairs. Oy! They’re in the garage if you want them…
Cobban, it’s not stupid at all! Last time I was there I figured y’all were waiting for the perfect table and chairs to come along – I didn’t realize you already knew what you wanted and where to find them. I think they’re stunning.
At some point I’ll have to dig up the article I saved on one of the (few) great mid-century modern houses here (BR kind of skipped that phase). It was built somewhere in the early 50’s and there was a huge living room/den with a glass wall facing the back yard. Except the wall didn’t come down into the floor; it came down into a swimming pool, half of which was outside and half of which was inside. So you could slip in, swim under, and be out in the sun. Gray slate floors, as I recall, in the main room. At the time the article was published somewhere in the mid-90’s, the widow of the builder was still living there with every piece of original furniture still in place – it was like a movie set.
I’m thinking Bob and I need to come see the new additions in person. Love the new to you furniture, and I am also someone who gets excited about new (used) furniture, so no apology needed. Cheers to you and Ray!
not stupid at all. my mom passed a year ago and i’ve been waiting for her estate to be settled so i can bring out the dining table that my father made 50 years ago. she has the original swedish wishbone chairs but i dont want those. but i’m also taking a swedish steel rope chair that is PERFECT for reading.
furniture that is loved belongs..it is an important artifact of our being here.
Wow, Cobban & Ray! Your new/old furniture is absolutely gorgeous in your home! And, I love the history of it (including the I Dream of Jeannie part).