Table For Two
14/04/19 07:25
This shopping for furniture business is interesting. We saw a kitchen table that Evan took a shine to while shopping at Bob's Furniture in Seabrook. It was the right size, the right height, the right look and feel. Until, of course, it wasn't. We then visited Abode in Portsmouth where we saw another table that we thought might suit both Evan and his new apartment even better.
There was only one problem. We couldn't convince Evan to go look at it. We've learned to work around these little peculiarities of his and now we more or less take them in stride.
This table that we really liked was a high top sort of table if you know what I mean. For a fella Evan's size, I really thought it would be a more comfortable table for him to have longer term. The extended leg room alone was enough to have him take a second look.
I took a few pictures and we sent them along to Evan so he could say either yeah or neigh. Then I sent him a picture of himself sitting at the old table that we looked at in Bob's where he looked oversized and maybe a little uncomfortable compared to his mom who sat in the chair opposite him.
I also thought the taller table would provide a better visual delineation of sorts between the dining area of his small apartment and the living area. A smaller table, visually at least, would not provide that break and might even give the impression to a first time visitor of an overly cluttered collection of furniture looking more like a storage unit than an apartment.
Once Evan decided that the taller table was the better choice, and knowing full well he had no intention of going to see the table before purchasing it, we inquired about return policies in the event he really didn't like it once we got it into the apartment.
We talked several times about how we were going to arrange to return to Bob's and buy the first table that Evan liked so ultimately it was good that we followed through on none of those plans. The baby Jesus works in mysterious ways. Now that we knew what table we wanted, and having sorted out the fine print on the store's return policy, we were ready to make the purchase. Not so fast. Abode would not sell the table without the four chairs. "But we don't need four chairs", we said. So that was that.
Being the resourceful types that we are, we decided to make a trip to the furniture outlet in Massachusetts that manufactured this particular table that we were interested in. They had the same table at a lower price and were willing to sell us as many or as few chairs as our little hearts desired. They discouraged returns but that didn't deter us from making the purchase. We decided that if Evan really didn't like it that Nancy could use the darn thing to do her crossword puzzles on.
I don't know that Nancy thought that the decision to buy this table was impulsive on my part but I would be lying to you if I didn't mention that she was concerned about it not being a good or right choice. She was reasonably apprehensive and, as usual, a vocal and often necessary bulwark to my bullishness when it comes to making decisions. We clearly had two different visions for what might and might not work in that space. I just thought my vision was the clearer of the two. There, I said it.
We arrived at the appointed hour and gave Evan a call so he could come down to help carry the box upstairs. We assembled the various pieces and placed the table and chairs against the wall where we thought it might work best. I think Evan was very pleased with this new addition to his apartment. By the time we had left we had moved the table over into the main living space and taken the television off the floor and placed it up on the table.
It had more to do with trying to get a sense of where the television might end up height-wise than it did with trying to find alternate uses for his new kitchen table. If I had my druthers, I would have him look at entertainment centers on Amazon and we could go from there. And, we had such luck with the bed frame that we purchased on Amazon.
So my question to Evan once all was said and done was, what's next? He said that he wanted to wait a while and give it all a little bit of time to settle out before making a decision on couches, entertainment centers, etc. . I'm paraphrasing, of course.
Man, I am in a mood this morning. I've been writing today's blog while listing to Stevie Ray Vaughn. Talk about putting a little juice in your morning routine. James Taylor is more my speed in the early morning hours before the caffeine kicks in but after that all bets are off. Stevie's riffs are killing me! Hand me that damn air guitar, woman! Nine O'Clock will be rolling around soon and it will be time to tune into my political shows. It only gets better from here.
There was only one problem. We couldn't convince Evan to go look at it. We've learned to work around these little peculiarities of his and now we more or less take them in stride.
This table that we really liked was a high top sort of table if you know what I mean. For a fella Evan's size, I really thought it would be a more comfortable table for him to have longer term. The extended leg room alone was enough to have him take a second look.
I took a few pictures and we sent them along to Evan so he could say either yeah or neigh. Then I sent him a picture of himself sitting at the old table that we looked at in Bob's where he looked oversized and maybe a little uncomfortable compared to his mom who sat in the chair opposite him.
I also thought the taller table would provide a better visual delineation of sorts between the dining area of his small apartment and the living area. A smaller table, visually at least, would not provide that break and might even give the impression to a first time visitor of an overly cluttered collection of furniture looking more like a storage unit than an apartment.
Once Evan decided that the taller table was the better choice, and knowing full well he had no intention of going to see the table before purchasing it, we inquired about return policies in the event he really didn't like it once we got it into the apartment.
We talked several times about how we were going to arrange to return to Bob's and buy the first table that Evan liked so ultimately it was good that we followed through on none of those plans. The baby Jesus works in mysterious ways. Now that we knew what table we wanted, and having sorted out the fine print on the store's return policy, we were ready to make the purchase. Not so fast. Abode would not sell the table without the four chairs. "But we don't need four chairs", we said. So that was that.
Being the resourceful types that we are, we decided to make a trip to the furniture outlet in Massachusetts that manufactured this particular table that we were interested in. They had the same table at a lower price and were willing to sell us as many or as few chairs as our little hearts desired. They discouraged returns but that didn't deter us from making the purchase. We decided that if Evan really didn't like it that Nancy could use the darn thing to do her crossword puzzles on.
I don't know that Nancy thought that the decision to buy this table was impulsive on my part but I would be lying to you if I didn't mention that she was concerned about it not being a good or right choice. She was reasonably apprehensive and, as usual, a vocal and often necessary bulwark to my bullishness when it comes to making decisions. We clearly had two different visions for what might and might not work in that space. I just thought my vision was the clearer of the two. There, I said it.
We arrived at the appointed hour and gave Evan a call so he could come down to help carry the box upstairs. We assembled the various pieces and placed the table and chairs against the wall where we thought it might work best. I think Evan was very pleased with this new addition to his apartment. By the time we had left we had moved the table over into the main living space and taken the television off the floor and placed it up on the table.
It had more to do with trying to get a sense of where the television might end up height-wise than it did with trying to find alternate uses for his new kitchen table. If I had my druthers, I would have him look at entertainment centers on Amazon and we could go from there. And, we had such luck with the bed frame that we purchased on Amazon.
So my question to Evan once all was said and done was, what's next? He said that he wanted to wait a while and give it all a little bit of time to settle out before making a decision on couches, entertainment centers, etc. . I'm paraphrasing, of course.
Man, I am in a mood this morning. I've been writing today's blog while listing to Stevie Ray Vaughn. Talk about putting a little juice in your morning routine. James Taylor is more my speed in the early morning hours before the caffeine kicks in but after that all bets are off. Stevie's riffs are killing me! Hand me that damn air guitar, woman! Nine O'Clock will be rolling around soon and it will be time to tune into my political shows. It only gets better from here.