Craigslist

Has anyone had any luck with Craigslist? I swear, I am so sick of reading in design blogs and magazines how people just stumble across original Saarinen Tulip tables in mint condition for $11. Not in my area! I'm lucky to find a 32 year old dining table from Wickes for less than $1500. I thought I might have found a potential refurbishing project, and even had an appointment for this morning to check it out. The table was a perfect 49" round with four leaves that extended the table to seat ten--and the table came with all ten chairs! I would have changed the upholstery on the chairs, but still--ten chairs! Alas, the owner called me yesterday after he sold it to someone else. Too bad, because it was originally from Denmark and had only one owner.




We have a small dining area (about 8x10) so we need a maximum 49" round table with leaves in order to also accommodate a sideboard. That's near impossible to find in stores today, as industry standard (so I've been told) is leaves on tables larger than 52". As much as I like round tables, I think I need to start looking at rectangular tables, too. In that case, it can't exceed 64" without leaves. The trick to all of this is finding a small table with 3 or more leaves so what normally seats 4 can expand to seat [gulp] ten. Like the designer in the showroom said on Monday, "Your dining room measurements suck. Good luck with that."

I admit, I'm also picky. If I'm going to spend thousands of dollars on a table, by God it better be solid wood. Most everything out there with my size requirements is solid plus veneer. Anything that isn't costs over $3000 for just the table, which is presently of my budget. I'll just keep searching Craig until the perfect set from the 50s-60s falls in my lap. I have one other table I found that I really like, but I just don't know. In case you haven't read my tagline, I'm scared to death of commitment a wee bit indecisive.

Have any of you had luck with Craigslist? I want to hear all about it. Maybe your good luck will rub off on me.