I am deep in the trenches of re-decorating our new condo (what? you didn’t know? Follow me over on Instagram to see!) and given the time constraints of having a new baby and trying to sell our previous home at the same time, I am trying to make decisions… FAST.
Typically I like to spend time in my new space ruminating over the uses, layouts and lighting for each room before making any rash decisions. Unfortunately, we wanted to get the flooring and new painting done in this house before we even moved in, which didn’t leave me with a lot of time to come up with cohesive design plans. While I will have more on those rash decisions and how I feel about the outcome of them in posts in the near future, right now I have to seriously poll the audience about a decision that has been plaguing me for days.
The Dining Room Table.
I know this may seem trivial in comparison to flooring, painting etc… but as someone who shoots table settings (a little of my work here and here) I know that having a versatile table top really has its virtues. Right now I have a 48″ bleached wood round table, which unfortunately won’t work in my new space. I absolutely LOVE this table, because it’s light, bright, and clean. Sometimes I even use it for photo backdrops, so it’s really been a bonus to have in the house. You can see the table in this post where I set the table, and you can shop it from Ballard Designs.
Now that I am on the hunt for a rectangle dining table that seats at least 8, I am struggling with whether I want another white table, or to go with something more traditional like a mid-tone wood.
A white or marble top table is so airy, and would definitely brighten up my dining room. It also provides a great backdrop for instagram photos (don’t roll your eyes… this is a business and you have to consider these things!). While I don’t think we will be able to afford one of these marble options, you can still get the idea of how a light wood would work instead. Here are a few examples that I love:
Chip and Joanna endorse a white wood table…
And I love how colored chairs pop against the white
Emily Henderson’s old table was white marble… and manages to keep it from looking too glam
And this table setting is still rustic, but light and airy due to the white!
But then, my mind says, well you can just put a white table cloth on a wood table to mimic the same effect (although not as well). And is wood more timeless? I don’t know… Let’s take a look at some beautiful examples:
Colored chairs work so well against the wood as well…
And this pic of the wood against the floral wallpaper is basically the inspo for my new home…
Rustic table settings look so inviting on natural wood.
Even Emily Henderson’s new home has a mid tone wood table! Ahhh… what do I do??
For reference, here are two dining tables that I am looking at as my main contenders. They both have plusses and minuses, and yes, I know ‘it depends on the rest of the look of the room’ but let’s just eliminate that factor for now. Which one would you choose? White wood or neutral wood? ahhhhh HELP!
My white wood option is from Wayfair
My Neutral wood option is from Ballard
Can’t wait to hear what you think!
