Young House Love

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Finding A Restoration Hardware Table For Cheap

(You’ll get the meaning of that post title in a minute)

Exciting news, guys – we finally found something to take the spot of our too-small pedestal table in the eat-in part of our kitchen.

Eating Area

And we’re happy to report that it’s a lot more proportionate – and functional! – for the space. Now we can seat six or even eight people in a pinch, which has already proven to be useful with our big families (and my spread-out-all-the-tear-sheets propensities). Of course we’re still on the hunt for dining chairs so these are just for the meantime, but man, it’s such an upgrade to have room for adult sized plates again.

Restorationtable9

Just try not to stare too hard at pretty much anything except for the table. So ignore the faux-brick vinyl flooring, all that wood everywhere, and that graph-tastic wallpaper (I’ve already stripped about half of the room– so I owe you a post about that). Let’s just say that when we’re done with this kitchen, the table should make a lot more sense “in context.” In fact, here’s a similar table in a pretty BHG kitchen. Nice, right?

And you’ll never guess where this baby is originally from. I’ll give you a hint. It rhymes with Festoration Blardware.

Pedestal Table Rh

But we didn’t pay $1795 – $2495 for ours. It actually turned up at one of our favorite local shops called The Decorating Outlet (which is the outlet for Shades of Light). It’s where a lot of returned merchandise or used-once-for-a-catalog-shoot items end up – so it’s an awesome place to score a deal (we bought the pendants in our last house’s kitchen and our old bedroom rug that now lives in Clara’s room there). Turns out this 60″ table hails from Restoration Hardware (where it’s sold for $2095) and it was just used a few times in some catalog shots before it sat in a storage room for a while and eventually ended up at the outlet… priced at a cool $650 (a 70% markdown!).

The top is awesomely weathered and the whole thing is made of reclaimed wood (so no two are ever alike). As a mom I like that Clara and the bun can beat on this table until the cows come home and all of those dents will be filed under “character.” See, when I was growing up we had a shiny lacquered table and it was waaaay too precious (there was a certain especially intense spirographing incident where I scratched it and never lived to hear the end of it).

Restorationtable7

It’s nice to know that now I can spirigraph my little heart out without fear of marring some perfectly smooth surface. And really, isn’t that the definition of happiness?

Table Rustic Top

The fact that it’s such a well-made, solid piece makes us so happy (it’s crazy heavy! there’s nothing hollow or veneered about it). I’m hoping it will be one of those hand-down-to-your-kids pieces that outlives me and John. Who knows, maybe in 2113 our great great grandkids will be spirographing the days away on it. Sigh. Update: We’ve had a few questions about where our dining table from our previous house is, and the answer is that it’s in the dining room. The reason we didn’t contemplate bringing that into the eat-in kitchen area is because it’s around a foot wider (70?) and has larger chairs, so it works better in there and would be too cramped for the kitchen.

Restorationtable8

So that marks the second piece of furniture we’ve purchased since moving in around four months ago (which seems to be our pattern since we moved into our second house and bought our sectional and our dining table within a few months). Between our new West Elm dresser and this score of a table, so far we’ve spent $750 less than we did on those two initial purchases for our last house – but since our sunroom makeover is going to come in a bit higher than our patio project (which was the first big DIY undertaking that we tackled four months into that house) we’re most likely going to be on exactly the same track with the ol’ bank balance. Isn’t it funny how these things seem to have a pattern?

All mathy comparisons aside, we’re psyched to have two well-made furniture additions in our new house – especially since slowly acquiring more quality pieces was our goal here (we’ll always love thrift stores and Ikea along with building stuff, but we hope to have a nice mix of things in this forever home of ours). Now if only we could get the chairs for this table right on the first try. If our former dining room chair debacle is any indication, it might be a long road…

But at least our table is pretty. Even with our shinnnny fake brick floors. Just focus on this still life with lemon. Don’t look down.

Tabletop Detail2

Anyone else buying furniture? Or saving up for something solid and beat-up-able?

Comments

  1. DanielleR says

    Love it! I took a que from your book a couple years ago and got a round table after you posted about yours … I got a steal on mine too, it was on Crate & Barrel’s website for $1295 and I got it for $200 on Craigslist because the owner was moving across country and didn’t want it. I love it so much, you guys were so right about family dinners at a round table :)

    Reply

  2. Katie says

    I feel like “Festoration” and “kitchen” are phrases that most of the time I wouldn’t want to hear together. In this case, LOVE. Other situations…maybe no. Haha.

    Reply

  3. Kelsey says

    That table is beautiful. Wow. I’m so jealous of all the awesome deals you guys manage to find! I seriously think you are charmed (although all the time you spend hunting probably helps too, ha).

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, there’s lots of hunting for sure! We’ve been here for 4+ months and have been looking for something pretty much that whole time (we might go into 50 stores and search craigslist 50 times before we buy something) so it’s definitely not an “I can’t believe we found this on the first try!!!” thing ever – there always seem to be a lot of nos and legwork before we dig up The One.

      xo
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We don’t just because by the time blogs started doing that we had about 10,000+ photos in our archives already and going back to do those sounded hard and just randomly starting to mark them going forward felt weird to us too for some reason. I think we generally like to keep things simple and clean, and adding a mark can sometimes take away from a photo. It’s also nice because everyone is so sweet about telling us when our images are being used anyway (there are also programs that spider the web for your photos, and find them even if they’ve been flipped backwards) so we seem to be ok without them! But it’s definitely a personal preference thing (I think more bloggers probably do it than don’t do it these days).

      xo
      s

    • Taylor says

      ok! good info! i have always done it because i just thought thats what people do haha! but then a few times this year bigger websites and a magazine wanted pics with no watermark and then thats a whole other thing! that and its takes forever!

  6. Karen says

    LOVE the new table. Our first purchase for our home was a Restoration Hardware Table from the outlet! Over a year later and we heart it big time.

    Since you are going on a big chair hunt- something you probably know, but I found RH’s tables to be higher than other tables out there and so I needed chairs with higher seat heights- 18-inch plus (18.5 was best)!! I had to return numerous chairs because the seat height wasn’t high enough. Now I have an eclectic collection of white chairs that I love. Just thought I’d pass that on!!

    Reply

  7. sarina says

    I want a new couch! The one we have was fine when hubby was at sea all the time, but with the both of us there it is too small! He is over 6 feet tall so he can’t even lay back on it and nap very easilly. We also end up watching TV with his legs draped over mine.. which isn’t really all that comfortable. The TV is at a right angle to the sofa and the room just won’t allow for one sitting straight on. My dream would be to find a somewhat L shaped sofa.. but gotta save that money first!

    Reply

  8. Kim says

    We just brought our very own Karl home last week. The hubby drove all night, was at the store when it opened, and then drove home. I wanted to go, but at 32 weeks along, that long of a road trip didn’t seem very comfortable!

    Reply

  11. Lauren says

    Love the table! We went with a similar type of solid, unfinished wooden oak table (plus a bench!) from Crate and Barrel about 4 years ago. We were warned about staining/furniture abuse at the hands of small children, which we HAVE had our share of (mostly peanut butter fingers and water rings). Once a year (or less) we’ve lightly sanded it with steel wool and coated it with Briwax (one time we actually used mayonaise as a polish . . . it worked, but smelled salad dressing-ish). It always returns to its former glory and I have NEVER regretted my purchase, despite all the warnings:)

    Reply

  13. C. Jane says

    We had the same “awesome” faux brick flooring in our kitchen when we moved in! We actually painted & stenciled ours as just a temporary fix because I just couldn’t handle the maroon any more. (http://janeandeugene.blogspot.com/2011/08/finished-floors.html).

    We’ve since updated the kitchen much more with DIY butcher block and green glass mosaic backsplash (http://janeandeugene.blogspot.com/2013/06/tile-backsplash-and-before-after.html), so next on our list is a real replacement for the flooring rather than just paint, but it was a good way to get us through! I look forward to seeing what you choose for your flooring re-do!

    Reply

  15. Nikole says

    Love the table! I have a soft spot for round pedestal tables. :) I also loved the rhymes with bit. I do dorky stuff like that all the time, to the embarrassment of my students. Too bad for them! How do you find the outletty type stores you shop at? I am real close to Portland, OR. Did you find any must visit stores while you were here? Thanks a million! BTW, congratulations on your new little nugget!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I just google around mostly (“Richmond outlet” & “Richmond wholesale” etc). And ask people! Anyone! Neighbors and friends and even at a fabric store I’ll ask where the furniture they reupholster usually comes from. Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

  16. jenny says

    i hear you on the lacquered table thing…my mom still panics about hers too. the dining room table has never seen the light of day because its buried under table protector pads and table cloths, and no one can do anything at the kitchen table without having a placemat down (ever tried to do your homework while writing on a fabric placemat??). We also had an unfortunate incident…not with a spirograph, but wiht fingernail polish remover. oops. I think you made a SUPER choice!!!

    Reply

  18. Tammy Terrio Wallace says

    Great score! I’m like you, my next table is going to be something beat-up-able. I was looking at rough looking harvest tables. I’ll never forget the second day we had our brand new shiny table and my daughter drug something across it and it left one very long noticeable scratch. Our kids have added many more since. I totally get your reasoning!

    Reply

  21. Sophie says

    I’m definitely a saver not a spender – so no furniture buying in my future any time soon!! I’m a college student so I save every penny and I can get (it’s my 21st birthday today and getting money from my parents is the best gift. Like, ever!)

    Reply

  22. Chad says

    What a beautiful table! And you got it at such a great price. Its certainly a great addition to your home. I love finding treasures like this.

    Reply

  23. Margaret says

    I inherited our dining room table from my parents. One day, I just looked at the surface at this one particular angle, and what do I see but a mass of spirograph indentations! Hilarious!

    Reply

  24. mp says

    I’m saving up to get a few badly-upholstered pieces redone. Hoping perhaps to win the U-Fab giveaway!

    I cracked up at “I like that Clara and the bun can beat on this table until the cows come home.” I pictured Clara and the bun jumping up and down on the table shrieking like tiny banshees, little hands and feel flailing.

    Reply

  25. Scott says

    Wow, crazy good deal.

    Be honest, was this one of those “Hey guys, we have this great table and we think it has your name on it. We’ll hold it, come check it out”. Or did you just happen to stumble on it during a random visit?

    If it’s the latter… Luuuucky!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Totally dropped by looking for hallway lights upstairs and it was hiding under a bunch of table lamps! Such a lucky find! They actually said they had two but the other one sold.

      xo
      s

  26. Shana says

    How many chairs would you say you could fit comfortably around it? I am on the hunt for a round table, and need to keep 6 chairs around it.

    Thanks!
    Shana

    Reply

  27. Craig says

    I must apologize for any grumbling you may hear from now on as I am both thrilled about your blardware purchase and miffed that I do not own such a table :) I love their furniture but currently only work one job so I can not afford such things. :P

    Love it!

    Reply

  28. Tawna mama says

    Gah!!! I have been dying over that table for over a year now. I’m obsessed with the idea of a big round table- where everyone gets to feel very king Arthur-esque. However, as a band teacher’s wife and mama of soon-to-be 5 kids 6 and under, big expenditures are um, non existent. Hence, I’ve been saving my pennies and telling myself paying 2000$ isn’t completely absurd for a table that my eventual great great great grandchildren will use…right?! Really excited to see what kind of chairs you end up with- that’s my other dilemma. Want comfy chairs, but EASILY cleanable(5 kids, remember? :P ) also, Please keep us posted on the easy-wipe ability.. Love the idea of letting my kiddos bang their spoons on it to their hearts content, but not so excited about trying to wipe down spilled milk, sauce, rice, food, etc. that is inevitable… Sorry to be so long-winded! Clearly I need to ‘talk’ to adults more! :P

    Reply

  29. Ashley S says

    Loving that table! I clearly need to find the local version of The Decorating Outlet because that sounds like a great place to score some deals! It’s kind of interesting that the first two pieces of furniture purchased for your new house are both light colored wood. :-)

    Reply

  30. mims says

    Love love love the table. But just curious, did you all consider doing a banquette at all? With those large windows in the kitchen it seems like it would be such a great addition.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re actually planning to turn the windows into french doors out onto the deck, and the wall between the kitchen and living room is going to be opened up with built-ins on either side (like the centered opening between our second house’s dining room and office with those built-ins we loved) so there’s just not room for a banquette, but we hope once it’s all open there will still be lots of room for foot traffic around the table on all sides (into the living room, out onto the deck, etc). Will keep you posted!

  31. Tracie says

    Oh no. I just passed up a round to oval antique dining set a few weeks ago and after this post I decided I had to text the woman bc I haven’t stopped thinking about it… and she still has it. My husband is going to kill me if I replace our current dining set. But it’s an antique (c. 1900 or so) and the perfect size and really cheap, and I only paid $115 for the current set off CL…. AHHHH.

    Reply

  32. Susan in Colorado says

    I KNOW that table.. my brother/sister in law bought the same one (or ya know..close to it)… it is SO beautiful in person. They probably paid more, but not full price..they live almost next door to a RH outlet.. so they are there all the time trying to score pieces for their new house.

    It is a NICE table…
    Susan

    Reply

  33. Kathy says

    Wait a minute, did I miss something??…

    “As a mom I like that Clara and the bun can beat on this table until the cows come home”

    Are you and hubby expecting another bambino??? :-)

    Reply

  34. Julianne says

    I absolutely LOVE that table! And Fantastic deal! That was the table inspiration for our kitchen space, too. We ended up buying an oak pedestal
    table & matching chair set that was clearly not as gorgeous, but was in good shape and solid, from a couple who had it listed on Craigslist. My plan is to do a “paint ‘n’ stain” combo down the line, but we’ll see. Amazing score & thanks for sharing the great tip on how you found it. With everything that goes on here in T.O., there’s bound to be something similar here. :0)

    Reply

  36. Shay says

    We are also on the kitchen table hunt! With incredibly specific and kind of odd needs.

    We’re going to build a little “L” shaped eating nook in our kitchen so we need a square pedestal table that also expands for our holiday meals (no dinning room here). Ohh and it needs to be solid wood for the same reasons you listed. And on a budget. Ohh and by the holiday season??

    I wish Northern California had a better selection of outlets like the stores you have in Richmond. I don’t think my husband would agree to drive that far in search of a table..

    Reply

  37. Suzy B says

    Adorbsville!!Love the new table….top is awesome. I just want to tell you guys you inspire me everyday! You are in my blog favorites to sneak-a-peek daily. I get so much goodness and warmth from reading your blog & not being creepy!! Have always wanted my own little store for pillows, canvas artwork, and cute home décor….going to visit a booth space tonight to get me started on my journey!
    But reading your blog has given me the push I needed so thanks so much!!

    Reply

  39. qs777 says

    Love how the table looks! I’m sure it will be a jumping off point to what you do in the rest of the kitchen.

    We are fortunate to have a RH outlet near us. We recently scored a double vanity for nearly 70% off as well. We have also bought one of their uber-expensive lights for over the island at 65% off. It is kind of weird when people come over because, while I don’t tell them the actual $ amount, I do tell them the % off we got since I think they are wondering how we could afford that. Haha

    Can’t wait to see what chairs you get!

    Reply

  40. Courtney says

    We went on a furniture shopping spree a few months ago, but it was a couple of too good to be true sales. We had been saving for a $1700 couch from Crate & Barrel, and knew that we would eventually need to replace our too big for the space sectional as well. Well we accidentally found a $900 floor display for $280 at American Signature. But someone had just bought it. Lucky for us, they had 1 brand new in the warehouse that they would give us for that price. Then they had a sleeper sofa that looked almost identical to the one at C&B on sale for $500. Yes please! Combine that with the dinning table we loved at Ikea on sale for $150 off 2 weeks after we bought the couches. All in all we spent less on the 3 pieces as we would have for the orignal couch!

    Reply

  42. qs777 says

    Forgot to add:

    We were at a toy store the other day and saw a Spirograph. My daughter asked what that was. Excuse me?????!!! Needless to say, we have new artwork around the house. :)

    Reply

  44. lesismore says

    bought a new living room set about six months ago, but couldn’t find that perfect coffee table until this past weekend. 1950s, solid teak, danish table with amazing lines and only one tiny scratch, which i was able to get $25 off for.

    the few coffee tables i saw that i loved were between $500-$900 which is a little insane when you have two kids and some of them weren’t even solid wood! i got this one for $270, which feels like a lot but i hope the same thing you do-that it will be passed down to my kids and beyond.

    Reply

  45. Ashley Perry says

    Blog post idea! Blog post idea!

    I am so jealous of all these amazing gems y’all find at stores that sell items from photo shoots, etc. I live in Atlanta and would love to know of local stores that are similar to the ones y’all shop at in Richmond. Could there be a poll/suggestion post y’all do where people can share their favorite, hidden away stores in the bigger cities? Thanks!!

    Reply

  46. Brandi @ Nest of Bliss says

    Oh I am swooning at this beautiful table! I can only imagine how amazing this kitchen is going to be.

    Our house is quite small so I took advantage of our “larger” living room to put a harvest table in, but I would love to have a table like that in an eat-in kitchen one day!

    Reply

  49. Avone says

    Funny story, my very first piece of DIY furniture years ago was a dining table with a gorgeous dark walnut finish and poly-ed (that’s a verb, right?)to a pretty shine. A few years later my hubby was showing our first born the awesomeness that is spirograph. Happy accident. I sanded it down, applied some gray stain, dented it up in places for a gorgeous faux reclaimed wood look. The best part is that when my kids now spill paint on it and it won’t come up, I just sand it right off. The variation in color is wonderful.

    Reply

  50. Theresa R says

    I love that table! When you mentioned that you were thinking of putting in French doors to the deck I thought of this lovely kitchen/living room French door wall makeover that Jennifer Rizzo revealed and thought it would look awesome with a bigger opening like you were planning to put in and would give you more natural light in your family room. Were you thinking of putting in the triple French doors to your deck? The reason I ask is because we bought a house with a 8ft slider door and wanted to replace it with the triple French doors and our sales person said that even though it looks nice he has many customers complain about the doors not being wide enough so he suggested that we just get two big French doors then put smaller fixed French doors on each side. I am sure whatever you do it there will be beautiful!

    http://www.jenniferrizzo.com/2013/09/the-oak-house-project-living-room.html

    Reply

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