Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Logic skills beyond compare

We considered moving several times over the past few years. Sometimes we've looked locally for a larger home and occasionally we've travelled out of state to seek greener pastures. One feature of a new home that is non-negotiable for me is a formal dining room.

The dining room set we now own was our very first major furniture purchase as a married couple. Most of what we started out with was (and still is) hand-me-downs or rejects. We shopped for weeks, unable to agree on what we wanted and what we could afford. I saw many tables and chairs that I liked, but I didn't feel like they would fit with our small home and hodge-podge of random furnishings.

We finally settled on a beautiful, modern design with an inlay pattern on the tabletop and the backs of the chairs. I loved it but my reservation was that it was too big and formal for the space it would be occupying (just a nook off the kitchen). I was persuaded, however, when Brett pointed out that we would not always be living in this home and eventually we would have more room for it.

Another factor to this purchase was the fact that we already owned a large piece of glass that would fit the tabletop almost perfectly. Because the design was not real wood, just a veneer, we knew we would need to protect it and a large piece of glass could be very expensive.

Fast forward to house hunting in Idaho years later. The realtor is becoming frustrated because I'm rejecting many of the homes he thinks would be perfect for us. (Apparently, homes with formal dining rooms are not as common as I think they are.) Being a helpful agent, he points out that it might not be a good idea to make a major decision like buying a home based on a piece of furniture that could easily be replaced.

Imagine his dismay when I explained that, since we bought the table specifically because we had a piece of glass that already fit it, we were in actuality buying a home around a piece of glass.

A piece of glass that no longer exists. It fell and shattered all over our dining room nook shortly after we bought the table.

6 comments:

Bertie said...

Perfect solution! EVERY home in Texas has a formal dining room! EVERY home- whether it is needed or not! We actually use it as a toy room. So- move to TEXAS!! Or, just give us your table:)

Anonymous said...

That rocks. I mean the every home in Texas having a formal dining room. Not the part about moving to Texas. Or the part about us giving you our table.

Actually, now that I think about it, our table has some teeth marks on one corner, courtesy of Big D. It's like having a little piece of Texas right there in our dining nook. ;-)

Chet Ranger said...

You know it's illegal to comment on your own blog. It's also not okay to try to be a female Dave Barry. Only male authors can be satirical. It's a well-known fact. Go look it up, woman.

While I'm here, I'll make a nostalgia blog post request, m'kay? I just read "You've Got to Read This Book!", a compendium of 50-odd authors and their favorite books. While he didn't say it was his favorite, Tim Ferriss (author of my favorite biz book, The 4-Hour Workweek), said that he grew up next door to the creator of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" series, which inspired him to be a lifetime 'chooser' if you will... he wants to do a zillion different things with his life because he was inspired by those early books.

So post something about one of the little things you remember as a kid that inspires you still today and makes you who you are today.

Oh, and another person's favorite book was C.S. Lewis' "The Great Divorce" which I have sworn to read and share with momma. I'll let you know how that goes.

Anonymous said...

Is it really illegal, or is it just poor form? I'm not really commenting on my blog, I'm responding to a comment on my blog.

All I know is, Bertie does it all the time.

Shauna said...

Not illegal.

Also, there are plenty of houses in Utah with formal living rooms as well. I don't happen to own one of them, but my friend does. So I know they exist.

momof5foxes said...

Formal dining rooms exist here in Utah...hint, hint...in the last few model homes I have been in, formal dining rooms are quite "the thang"...now if only the weather could be persuaded around here....