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I love to entertain. Ever since I was a kid, I dreamt of the day when I could cook for people and mix them drinks, and I hosted my first real dinner party at age 16. Back then, I had my parents’ living and dining room at my disposal, a sizable space that comfortably fit the eight-ish friends who came over for the occasion.
Both my cooking and hosting skills have improved since then, but one thing has shrunk greatly — my space. My apartment is big by Brooklyn standards, but the kitchen and dining area are crammed into one room. When I first moved in, I insisted on getting a large rectangular dining table that sat six, and we’ve squeezed in eight or nine on more than one occasion. But recently, that super angular table started to seem clunky in the space. Not only was the cheap wood finish starting to peel, but I realized that my husband and I didn’t really need a table for six when it was just the two of us dining most of the time. But then what would become of my robust appetite for entertaining?
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For nearly 70 years, the iconic two-piece set has been a beacon of mid-century modern designI thought back to the tables my parents and grandparents had. When closed, both of them only sat four to six, but they included leaves that you could insert in the center to expand the table. So my search began for an extendable table that would free up some space and look nicer than the borderline crumbling one I currently had. My Mother-in-Law offered up her mother’s vintage table and chairs, but it wasn’t quite right for my current space (but it will be perfect one day), and its matching chairs need to be reupholstered to boot.
Shortly after, I came across Room & Board’s Ventura, a 48-inch round extension table made from gorgeous walnut wood. Its tapered legs give it a mid-century look, which I love, and it comes with two leaves that extend it to both 66-inch-wide and 84-inch-wide ovals. The curved-edge design adds a softness to the room and makes it look bigger, especially because you can walk around the table (I could only walk around three sides of my old table). Like a vast majority of Room & Board’s products, the Ventura table is made in America, specifically in West Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley at Caperton furniture.
As I was deciding on a table, the big blank wall in my kitchen/dining area came up in conversation. My husband has always wanted a gallery wall there, but I really don’t like them unless they’re positioned on the wall next to a staircase or designed with large-scale, poster-size artwork. But in a small Brooklyn apartment, there’s always a storage shortage, so I started to peruse Room & Board’s bookcases. That’s when we decided to fill that entire wall with shelves to create more storage but also give us a space to display things. I landed on a custom-made Foshay bookshelf in Tangerine with a few walnut wood inserts to complement the table. There are two closed cabinets for storing things like liquor and serving platters, and one of the open inserts houses a small bar. And now I have homes for my various cocktail books, tiki mugs and punch bowl.
It never ceases to amaze me how you can transform a room with furniture. I know that sounds trite (like, duh), but that room seems so much more open and chic now. Fresh flowers even stand out better, and I can actually get to my cocktail books, which were shoved under a different bookshelf until now. And the quality of Room & Board’s furniture is top-notch — I’ve had the pieces for about three months, and I can tell I’ll have them both for a long time. The table’s finish makes it easy to clean (simply wipe it down with a damp cloth and dry completely), and I’ve invested in table linens to keep it nice. So far, I haven’t used the leaves, but that will change when we host Thanksgiving later this month. I’m beyond excited to welcome people around my new table.
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