HA! Wella, wella, one anda, two anda, . . . . .. You can come, ONLY if you promise to play the Beer Barrel Polka. The truth of it is, (and I know all the gals that visit this site know it), there's not much to putting together a decent arrangement (or a table for 20), if you have the will to try. You just need to have the guts, (Oh, my mother hated the word "guts.") My husband is always kidding me about having a ton of self-confidence that's "founded on absolutely nothing at all." Actually, he's quite proud of me, but he's a terrible kidder, too. What's so neat about this forum, is the encouragement we all get when we first find this place. Suggestions on improving a setting are just that - suggestions. You just can't get your feelings hurt around here. Believe me, that's not the case everywhere you go. I know my place settings and vignettes have shown improvement over time, and I've seen it in others. Of course, you are welcome at my house anytime. Come in the summer and you can see movies on the lawn.

Oh Debbie, you are such a hoot! I love your postings. I've been busy all afternoon searching for, and taking photos of, "things" and ideas I have for the miniscule nook. Hopefully I'll get them all found before too long. The table is a done deal. The photos posted above are 4-5 years old. He took the table apart, but we did not polish or change the metal finish. I gave the brass plated iron base a it a light wash, polished it with a dry cloth, and now use Swiffers to dust it. It looks just like it did except for the caked-on dust it came with. As for the maple top - yes, the old glue, finish, stampings, everything, on the top, bottom, and 2" thick edges of the table were scraped and sanded smooth, cleaned, and sealed with some sort of wood finish. You can see in the fourth photo where the top had been damaged and messily "fixed" with mass quantities of glue. Wes scraped and sanded that, and now you can barely see where it was repaired. In the first post on this thread, the very last photo showing the table in front of the old window (before the walls were painted and the nasty carpet ripped out) is the finished product and how the table looks today. If you come to visit, I will remove the tablecloth(s) and you can dine in bare maple splendor, but until then it will be enhanced, embellished, accessorized, swaddled, covered, layered, and cozy under a plethora of vintage linens! :)

I am sitting across the room from at least half a dozen pieces of linen -- white, natural, shades of blue, green and grey and a jaquard, a stripe and a textured weave. I just recently made my sister a kitchen towels in a half dozen colors, including a lemon yellow and a tangerine orange (to match her Fiestaware). I have a linen throw on the sofa next to me. Linen has a distinct hand and nothing wrinkles like linen. That would be my first test. I suspect the time period with mustard golds in vintage years may have favored "modern" fibers like polyester and rayon. Poly doesn't usually wrinkle but rayon sure can. The pills on the fabric are more typical of poly or acrylic fibers. And one other things that makes me doubt it is linen are the tiny hems. Linen tends to have deeper hems. Linen ravels. It is also considered a luxury fabric (perhaps a reason that table linens tend to be found in classic natural and white or off-white rather than colors -- but you sure can get colors). When made into items, care is usually give to finely finish the seam or edges. The deeper hems also give more weight and a more luxurious feel to the finishing. Maybe it wasn't always treated that way, but I can't think of anything I have, old or new, that isn't treated that way. If water beads on it, it either isn't pure linen or it has a finish on it Before posting this, I went and checked my thoughts. I have new, unlaundered linen and water beaded on it. You can also feel the finish on the fabric. I have some of the same fabric that has been laundered and water does not bead on it. Water didn't bead on my kitchen towel or my bed sheet (yeah, I'm becoming a linen junkie -- LOL). You could not see any beading, much less get a picture of it. Linen is very absorbent, but also dries quickly. Love it. When you wash the tablecloth, you will get more clues as to how the fabric handles. If it requires ironing and wrinkles lengthwise along the hems, I'd lean more to linen. But I'm not betting on it. If you love it and it wasn't sold to you as linen at a premium price, then I wouldn't worry about it. Wash it cool or warm and gentle and use Oxyclean for stains, tumble dry low. Check it before drying it, but that care should be good for 90% of your options.

Wow, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all of your feedback. I was not expecting all of this. I wanted to respond to some interesting points and ask a few more questions- I'm letting go of the multi-purpose idea. You were all right about that, it's just not feasible and wouldn't benefit anyone. Moving forward, I'm going to focus on making this strictly a craft room/office. Several of you have said that having the craft room at the front of the house is undesirable, but I disagree. Maybe I should have been more clear about the nature of my "crafting." I'm not a freehand painter or sculptor or anything like that. Half of the work I do I actually on a computer. I guess you could say I'm more of a graphic designer, but the finished product is physical (the messy part will actually happen outside in a shed). My point is that mess wil not be a huge issue. In fact, in my current living situation my "studio" is relegated to just a hallway and it actually works out fine. I attached some photos. I think having the room in the front would make it easier for customers to come pick up pieces as @doc5md suggested, (especially if I don't know them) because they wouldn't have to walk through the whole house. Plus I think it'll be a point of interest for guests. With the right organization, this room will look really cool. I'm picturing something like the photo I attached. @rockybird, while I would love to expand the footprint of the house, unfortunately, we're at max capacity for square footage we can afford. Also, these plans were already approved by the town, to change them now would mean months of delay waiting for another approval, but that's besides the point. This house is in North Jersey where there is not a lot of room. We only have .14 of an acre (gotta love NJ!) And we already had to ask for a variance as we expanded the existing footprint by around 40%. So expanding even more is out of the question. But thanks for the suggestion! I did just talk to my contractor (aka Dad) and he said that we can extend the craft room a little (about a foot) without altering the plans (shh don't tell) because that wall between the craft room and dining room is not a load-bearing wall. Granted a foot isn't much, but hey, it's better than nothing. @B Carey I appreciate the real-life family insight! I can see how the toy thing will get annoying (and disorganized) and I appreciate you sharing that. @Mrs Pete thank you for all your layout suggestions, I love the idea of built-in cabinets and am definitely considering that! @Virgil Carter Fine Art I really appreciate all of your professional artist suggestions, I'm definitely not on your level, but you gave me a lot of food for thought. I hadn't even thought of the direction the room was facing and I'm glad you mentioned that. I have to make sure to position my desk so that my computer doesn't catch the glare of the sun all day, since that's where I'll be spending a lot of my time. As for the glare on the art itself, I don't usually paint freehand, I create stencils using my computer and a silhouette cutter so the glare shouldn't really mess me up. I am a teacher full-time though, so my Etsy work is usually done after dark. I have to make sure to get good lighting in there as you suggested. As far as using the laundry room as my craft space, I really don't want to do that. It's not just that it's too small, but having to go up and down the stairs with the wood is what I'm doing now and it's super annoying. I want to be able to go from the shed outside to my craft room (all on the same level). I actually love that the laundry room is on the second floor! It's where 95% of the dirty laundry will be made. All of the bedrooms will be upstairs as will all of our clothes, sheets, towels, etc. Putting it downstairs or in the basement would actually be way more of a hassle. Many of you said the ditch the French doors and I hear you on that.... BUT I'm not ready to part with them yet :( Call me stubborn, but I just love the look. At the very least, I'll have them swing outward instead of inward, because you're right, they eat up a lot of space. I am also entertaining the idea of pocket French doors instead. @doc5md I like the idea of the single pocket door, that sounds interesting. What exactly is the issue with the French doors at your house? Do they get in the way? @sofikbr - I am worried about that dining room. I thought the same thing, it's SO big and it won't be used very much. My husband and I like to entertain, but I feel like if there's only one or two couples coming over, we'll probably stay in the kitchen/living room area. The dining room will really only be used for holidays, but that seems like such a waste. The wall between the dining room and kitchen IS a load-bearing wall so we can get rid of it. Does anyone have any suggestions for making that room more functional?? What about adding built-in bookshelves and making it a little library, too? Add cozy window seats maybe? @sofikbr I also see what you're saying about the bathroom situation, but the kids will just have to deal with it. You're right, they don't need a sitting area, but it just worked out that way. We can afford the extra bedroom space, we can't afford a third full bathroom. And hey, love grows best in little houses, right? I've known families of 6, 7, and 8 that shared one bathroom and if they can figure it out, so can we. Besides, I think the double sink and closed off bath area will help. The first photo is my current "studio" in my parents' basement. The 2nd and 3rd are layout ideas.