Note to Young Couples…
…that are just starting out and beginning to purchase furniture for their new apartment/house.
If you are planning to have children anytime soon, do not buy an expensive or really nice family dining room table. Chances are, one day your four year old will find a permenant marker accidentally placed in his pile of washable markers and trace his hand on the table. No amount of scrubbing with the magic eraser or clorox bleach pen will get the mark off.
I encourage you to instead purchase something from IKEA or, even better, find someone to give you their old one (like we thankfully did), and save your money until the kids are old enough to know how to take care of the furniture.
The same goes for coffee tables, family room couches, and furniture for the children’s bedrooms :o)
The one thing I will say, though, is that Patrick is very creative. I’m sure that by the time we pitch the table, it will no doubt look a lot worse than it does right now. I’m so glad we decided not to purchase a new table when we bought the house 2 1/2 years ago…
oh man, no kidding! We have a really nice table we got second hand, and the wood is super dark and super absorbent, so when kids spill milk on it, yep, the wood looks milky. It drives me nuts! Oh well, just stuff, right??
January 12th, 2009 | #
Seriously! I tell Josh all the time how glad I am that we don’t have nice furniture! I would be a very upset mommy if we did. 🙂 Thank goodness for hand-me-downs…
January 13th, 2009 | #
Sound advice – have you tried tooth paste. This is the typical male reaction – trying to solve the problem rather than discussing the interesting issue. But seriously I have used this mild abrasive to remove many a “permanent” discoloration. Since the table is old if the underlying finish is slightly off its no big deal. And having an old table upon which a few blemishes add character is, as you indicate, the secret to success.
Love
Vienna Dad
January 18th, 2009 | #