Enjoy reading stories about how a piece came to be in our home? You can find the story of our dining room table and what a story it is...
Remember when I shared that we have purchased most of our furniture from online auctions? Our dining room table falls under that category as well. We are pretty traditional... in many aspects of life... do you know we buy each other anniversary gifts that fall under the traditional gifts for each year of marriage?
For the fifth anniversary it is suggested you purchase wood for your spouse. Mr. Vintage came across our dining room table close to our fifth anniversary and suggested we make this purchase. We had a dining room table that was on the small side, for our dining room anyway. When I had it at my apartment, it seemed like it was of normal size, but when it came over with us, it seemed dwarfed for our dining room space.
The auction went similar to the French provincial chest... when he makes up his mind he is going to purchase something, nothing will stop him. I just let him take this auction over learning my lesson from past experiences... he called prior to bidding to see if the legs came off the table so we could ensure it was something we could transport. The auctioneer indicated that yes, in fact the legs would come off so we should not have an issue. We of course won the auction and had to pick up the following day...
We both left work early so we could make it there in time for pick up. Usually pick up times are from 4-6:00 PM. Of course, the president was in town and there were road blocks EVERYWHERE we turned! We knew we would be late, and I did not have the phone number with me to contact them about our tardiness. They ended up calling us and indicated there were issues for everyone coming to pick up items due to road blocks, so no worries, they would stay until everyone had picked up. Finally an hour and a half later we arrived!
When we pulled up it was a madhouse! People were everywhere trying to load up their loot. Mr. Vintage notified the auctioneer we were there, but that we would wait for an opening in the driveway since the table was large. When we backed in, he saw the table and knew it would not fit. He asked if we could transport the table top and then come back for the base. When she saw what vehicle we were driving she spoke with the home owner and they indicated it was fine for us to come back and would leave the base in the driveway for us to pick up. We had to let them know we were an hour away from home so it would be about two hours before we would be able to return.
Luckily they had movers to load the table top in the car, all of the leaves were removed and placed on top of the table inside the back of our SUV. I was freaking out because the drive there was stressful enough trying to make it on time... then I started to get antsy about everything coming together so it was a smooth transition. Once we got home, we had no idea how we were going to get the table out of the car. Believe me when I tell you this sucker is heavy. I even worried our dining room floor could hold it.
Mr. Vintage backed into our yard so we were as close to the patio and roof between our garage and home as he could get to make it easier for us to move. Once we got it out of the back of our car, I was nervous because I could barely lift my side at all. We just unloaded and left it on the patio so we could drive back another hour to pick up the base. You see the missing information was that the table base is not really legs, but a rectangular iron base that allows the slats on the bottom of the table to slide onto. I had not seen a table like this with the odd base before.
Picking up the base was a piece of cake after unloading that table top. I worried the entire way back because it was supposed to rain that evening and I did not want the table to get soaked. The entire hour drive there and then the hour drive back home I fretted. We tried working it out in our head how we were going to get the table in the house. We had to tip it up and leave it leaning against the garage while we were gone. I joked at least no one could take it since it was too heavy to move.
Once we got home, I tried to lift my end, I absolutely could not even move it or lift it an inch off of the ground! I am not a whimp, I help move furniture all of the time here... this thing beat me... we attempted using furniture dollies to get the table and slide on the back steps up into the kitchen (pluses of having carpet still in the kitchen, lol). Nope, would not work... then we had the bright idea of using car mats and placing them on the steps and trying to slide the table up the mats, while at the same time avoiding scraping the table up.
I could not lift the table which I felt bad about so Mr. Vintage lifted that darn thing himself up the stairs and into the kitchen. How he did not get seriously hurt is beyond me... he is Superman! At least around here he is... he should have been an engineer since he is a genius when it comes to figuring out how to move large items around the house, how to figure out the messes I get us into, and everything else that comes up around here. This mess he had to figure out on his own since I was at a loss. Once he was able to get the table lifted high enough to begin pushing up the steps, we were home free. We slid it across the kitchen floor into the dining room from there. When we finally had it in the dining room, we stopped for the night, our bodies and brains were beat! Four and a half hours in the car, going around road blocks, lifting, straining, grunting, thinking, more thinking, and choice words... it was a lot for one night!
The next morning we put the table base in place and then laid the table top on the floor, do you know that sucker wasn't as hard to lift when it was flat, but upright? Oh my goodness! It was sooooo heavy! We finally got it in place and we just stood there and stepped back and took a look at our hard work... our table no longer looked tiny in our dining room. Our six chairs worked with it perfectly and now the six foot bench Mr. Vintage made works perfectly on the one side. Whew, we felt good about our purchase and our anniversary gift to us!
I love the table, there is plenty of room for our small family when we have holidays here, it provides the best hiding spot for peanut when he misbehaves, I get to work on all sorts of craft projects... something I would like to change so the dining room does not have my messy crafts all over the place when I am working.
So there you have it, the story of our five year anniversary gift to us. What a story it was, something I do not care to live through again because my nerves were shot after this transport. You would think we would learn our lesson, but it is not the last piece we have purchased with no real plan on how to get it to our home... one would think after this experience it would deter us, but it has not... this table sure holds a lot of sentimental value for us... and we have enjoyed every meal shared with family, all of the many crafts projects completed at this table, and the good conversations shared while sitting here. Funny when you begin thinking about your home and the things inside and what they mean to you... it's not only the home or the items, but the love they hold and is shared...
Do you find awesome pieces and then realize you have bit off more than you can chew? Share your stories with us, we love to hear them!
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