Kinda mainstream, but we got ours at Pottery Barn. I think it's called the Shelby table, it has red painted legs and apron and a sort of distressed pine top. It was $499 on sale this summer, could not beat the price. I love the idea of a reclaimed wood table, but with little kids I was concerned about potential lead (I'm a weirdo, I know), and didn't want to spend a fortune (because of said kids), so PB was the ticket. Good luck! There are some great suggestions and pics of one of a kind tables so far - I'm drooling at Wodka's and at the one with the white base/plank top!!! Mary

ugh. i got a lot of fantastic responses to my post, but i just realized neither option may fit! my table is 90"l x 42"w x 30"h. i have 8' ceilings. from this fabulous board i have gleaned that my chandelier should be no larger than 30"w x 24"h. I am presuming that to apply the chandelier sizing rules to two fixtures you simply divide the maximum width by two? so two fixtures could only each be 15" wide? option #1 (the blingy option) comes in a couple of sizes. the two closest to what i need are 32"w x 26"h (which is 2 inches too big all around), or 24"w x 23"h (which just seems too tiny for a nearly 8 foot table!) option #2 (double lantern pendants) are 15"w x 29.5" h, but shade measures 11.5" diameter x 15"h. i am presuming that the discrepancies in measurement is that the first takes into account the chain coming up from the bell. so if you take the table height (30"), plus the fixture height (29.5"), plus installation height (30")...that leaves 6.5" of chain to suspend from ceiling. do either of these options fit the space? wow, who knew design decisions were so difficult? this is precisely why you hire professionals :)

If the tile top is meeting your needs, is there a specific reason why you want to changes it? I'm asking because last year we bought THREE different table sets in various price ranges and regardless of price, all three were junk; especially when compared to the 20 year old 200.00 farm table we already had. We ended up returning each and every set we tried and I decided to refinish the table I already had (and loved) instead. As much as I enjoy getting new furniture, I really couldn't be happier with the choice. We had used the table as a workbench for years while working on the house. It was in pretty bad shape and had definitely seen better days. The chairs are new as the originals to the set were long gone but there are lots of chairs to choose from in a really affordable price range. Sanding was a challenge but all in all, it wasn't as hard as one might think. If this appeals to you, post a picture and maybe we can help you with suggestions. I post these pics a lot so sorry if it's a repeat for you but it does show you the potential your table might have. We saved a lot of money doing it this way too. The chairs were about 300.00 and the stain/varnish was under 50.00. Before: And now:

Actually, most of our nice furniture is in the office/study and bedrooms -- those will be upstairs in the new house. Our current sofa sectional will be in the tv room downstairs. So...we still have to pick out new dining room set, stools, and living room furniture and can plan to get what will match the rooms. What I would love...darker mission oak furniture and/or contemporary in that same darker oak (with a slight reddish cast) or expresso finish. I'll try to take and post some pics of our dresser to show the finish tonight or tomorrow. I also just LOVED the Korean chest of drawers someone posted a pic of yesterday. Our daughter is Chinese, we have some Chinese drawings andwould like to put ina couple of Asian pieces as accents. What would all this mean for the floors, especially if we have the white trim? Any thoughts? I almost want to go with a lighter stain now, after thinking about it yesterday. One company has an Autumn Maple that is just a hair darker than golden oak but a slight auburn cast. Would contrast well with darker mission oak I mentioned. But the last couple of pictures of the walnut stain (posted yesterday) are gorgeous. Thank you all so much, all the comments have been so very helpful and I really appreciate them. Amy