Not Thrifty...

...but  worth every penny.  We bought the Darjeeling dining table from CB2 after almost a year of considering whether it would work.   We sold our old dining table a few months ago but I still couldn't commit to buying the table.  If you've been following this blog for a while you already know that most of the furniture in the house is vintage and inexpensive.  I won't use the word "cheap" because vintage furniture is generally much sturdier and of better quality than new furniture.  Anyway, about a year ago I first saw the Darjeeling table on the CB2 website and I fell in love with it.  I also knew based on the reviews that it was a sturdy table and well made.  the only issue was that it was almost $900!   I hesitated to buy it also because  it was almost 15 inches longer than our old table .  Our old table was only 65 inches long but seemed to take up the entire dining room.  It was also very wide (45 inches) so it seemed massive.  After a year of living with duct tape on the floor outlining the dimensions of this table (80 inches x36 inches) we finally took the plunge and bought the table.  It is more amazing that I had imagined.

It is made of Sal wood reclaimed from old Indian railroad ties. What is great about old wood is that it is much sturdier than the wood used these days to make furniture. The older wood was harvested from older more mature treas which means that it is much  stronger than wood that doesn't get a chance to mature.

Since getting the dining table the whole room looks different. I painted our old dining room chairs which somehow makes the dining room look a little bit sophisticated.


The table arrived unfinished and I applied several coats of beeswax to protect the table. The table will probably need a new coat of beeswax every year.

I was worried about the length but it fits perfectly in the dining room. I have always said that larger pieces of furniture generally make a look larger than smaller pieces. The dining room doesn't look like a corridor any more and we use it a lot more to just hang out. Also the table seats 8 but we could squeeze 10 which is great for parties.

I've hung more "art" on the walls and the room looks a lot more cozier than it used to.  Kiran uses the table to do a lot of his art projects and I generally work at night from this table.  What makes a home comfortable is having furniture that works for you.  This table fits that bill. 

The fashion drawings to the left of the picture above were done by Scott's mother.  The picture of the girl on the grass is by Tierney Gearon (purchased from 20x200) and the pink swirly painting is also from 20x200 and is a print by Jennifer Sanchez.  The nude charcoal drawing is also by Scott's mother.  The black and white painting to the left of the picture above is a collage Kiran and I did with Indian Ink. 

I look these pictures in a hurry and I didn't get a chance to clean off the table.  That big piece of paper in all the pictures in this post is a painting by Kiran.  I love the muted greys, pink, blue and green.  I was in the process of framing it when I took the pictures of the table.  Another reason why I love this table it is a great place for me to do lots of projects in addition to eating.