the quest for a dining room table

Toddling right along with the design of our house - we come to the dining room! Our front door opens into this big, empty room that currently contains my daughter's cardboard playhouse and a random mess of toys. It needs a lot of work.

I've had my eye out for dining tables for a while now, and I have something pretty specific in mind I guess. I've always wanted something rustic looking and giant. A place where we can spread out and do crafts or homework and also host a big dinner party. I don't want to worry about getting sparkles on the table or wine stains. Bring on the mess and bring on the fun!

A few years ago I mentioned this table from Restoration Hardware and it's still one of my faves. It has always remained in my mind as my ideal. That paper airplane never did fly through my window carrying a large cheque, so this still one may be a bit out of budget. Wahhh. 

But on the Restoration Hardware website it looks like there are now a bunch of additional rustic, reclaimed wood table options. This Farmhouse Salvaged Wood Rectangle Extension Table is quite beautiful too - much more rough and chunky than the Trestle table. I lurve.

There is a store called Woodcraft in Toronto that makes custom tables. It's pretty cool actually - you choose the style, wood, finish and stain, and then it's ready for you to take home within a few weeks. Their website photos aren't the greatest, I have to admit, but I do like a lot of their styles and when I visited their showroom I really loved the simplicity of their Long Loft Table. They had some cool stains in Driftwood and Antique and you could choose a 'rough-sawn' look too for a more rustic effect. This is an option.

In a recent West Elm email I also saw this beautiful Boerum Dining Table. It's not as unique as the top two, or as 'chunky', but I do like the rustic-meets-modern effect of the table, as well as the cool colour. And the price...definitely it's the best price! I haven't seen it in person so that could be a whole other story. 

So the hunt for a cool, chunky, rustic, humongous dining room table continues! I'll keep you in the loop.