Thank you southernheart! It's always nice to know that I am on the right track. I am planning on selling my leather couch and get a couch in a chenille type of material in a more traditional style. I will miss the leather couch, it is so practical, but it is really too big for the space that I have, and the direction that I want to go in, so there will be lots of changes coming up.

Hi Amy!!! Good feedback on the table. But too late. Deadline for returning the table was yesterday. :-) Basically, I decided I really loved the table, and loved it enough to forgive it for not letting the chairs go all the way under. The thing about tall people's feet didn't occur to me (tall people have feet?? who knew!). I'm just going to hope it works out. If someone really needs to stretch out their feet with a glass of brandy, they'd be much more comfortable doing it on the sofa or armchair anyway - which are only a few steps away! I did go back to Room & Board this week to take another look at the black steel table - it's nice, and it would have gone in the room okay, but it did seem kind of cold and hard-edged. I just don't get the same feeling looking at it that I do with the wood table. Maybe if I'd realized this thing about the wood table's legs before I actually bought it and put it in my house, I would have gone for the steel table - but maybe it's just as well. (I can always CL the wood table later if I decide it really doesn't work, and chalk it up to an expensive lesson learned - or a "table rental fee". ;-)) As for chairs - they *are* really difficult! I sat in the wood chair at R&B. Not so comfortable. The leather chair was much more comfortable. Go figure. Finding a relatively small chair that is still comfortable and attractive is crazy. So here's a form vs. function thing: I found these chairs on the West Elm web site: The size is good, the style works, the color is fun and might work in the room. BUT (lots of but's here) - the store only had them in dark gray, and I'm nervous buying them without seeing the actual "persimmon" color first. (Colors on web sites can be deceiving!) The fabric was a somewhat loose nubby weave that might prove irresistible to a cat's claws (assuming I ever get a cat again). And finally, there's the issue of West Elm furniture quality - I got my coffee table from them, and though I like the style of the table, not so happy with the quality. On the plus side, the chairs were pretty comfortable. (For now. The padding felt kind of, uh, hollow, like it might not hold up over time.) Still intrigued by the style & color though - if anyone has seen chairs like this elsewhere, please let me know! One more thing about the table... Dd50, I did go back to C&B also and look at the 48" version of the wood table. They had it up on a pedestal though, so I couldn't see how it looked with chairs under it. Anyway, it did look kind of big, and I'm not sure it would have made that much difference with the chairs, so I decided to stick with the 42" top. Finally, Amy, some extra pix showing the little orange table: Opposite the sofa: Mocked up with the picture that still needs to be hung over the sofa, the curtains that still need to be purchased, and a smushed make-believe vase munged from my green lamp base standing in for a centerpiece on the dining table:

My husband says that it is the color of old copper. I am not getting the spelling right, but veridis or something like that. For those who don't know. My husband and I build furniture for other people. Very high end stuff. We can not afford our own stuff. we can't afford the materials . So normally we make do with out, or we scarf something from goodwill, the metal junkyard, or craigslist. We have furniture made of all sorts of junkyard trash that has been repurposed. It is a case of the cobblers kids without shoes. The chairs came from HEB while we make chairs for the Neiman Markus catalog. HEB is stepping up for us. This table came out well. I think I will pull up to that sea of reflection and mar that perfect surface by doing my bills out here today after coffee.The weather this morning is beautiful.

For me comfort is paramount. I suggest going to a brick and mortar store and actually sitting in chairs and narrowing down your selections to ones that are comfortable for sitting in for you and your partner for a significant amount of time. After that, then narrow down the playing field by aesthetics. Good luck!