Heather and I have been shopping for a dining room table since, well, how long have we been married? Anywho, we found a modern walnut table by Calligaris named the Trotta but Bloomingdales wanted a whopping $6,000. Why so much? I couldn't rationalize the price unless the top was made of gold embossed to look like walnut. We found the same table at Hold It - a local store we love but they only had a picture of it in their catalog and the price was still north of $3,000. So, everytime we dropped by Hold It we looked longingly at their catalog hoping that the price would magically be cut in half.
One Friday night, a designer at Hold It said "You're in luck, I think we have a damaged Calligaris in our warehouse and tomorrow we're having a sale." We arrived Saturday morning a half hour before the sale believing the table would be snapped up before we could make an offer. Well, there it was, with two seriously damaged corners; offered at $699. Golly. What a bargain, but the top was way beyond repair. As we turned away my mind began doing the math - $300 in walnut planks and a day or two laboring in my garage to fix it. Heather and I shopped lumber and imagined what could be.
Hours later we went back to the sale and no one, not a single person, had given the Trotta a second look. I said to the store owner, "We like the table but I'm gonna have to sink a lotta time and dough to make it worth my while, I mean, its only good for the legs and hardware, right?" He knew the table was either going to the trash heap or he could sell it to me. He offered it to me for. . . well, let's say I've spent more money on a dinner for four at a nice restaurant than I spent on this broken table. I was ecstatic.
Voila! Look at the corners now. Solid walnut top, matching finish, and the table extends from 6.5 to 10 feet with two grain-matched leaves (photo below is without the leaves). By the way, Hold It has now earned out loyalty. We've purchased a matching credenza and we plan on buying a new custom sofa from they soon. Now for a new dining room rug . . . hmmmmm, how hard would it be to tuft a modern throw-down in my garage?
http://www.calligaris.us/home-solutions-furniture.html
In order to foster Christian's future career as an intergalactic bounty hunter we've purchased the world's best collection of lasers, blasters, sabers, and electronic tutu guns. His plastic arsenal is enough to wipe off every annoying Ewok from the second moon of Endor. Snark Snark.
I found an old Atari pistol at the Salvation Army and decided to re-purpose it. However, Christian's gun cabinet was full. So, in the name of Equal Rights, I painted it pink and white, bejeweled it with genuine plastic power crystals, and presented it to Erika. Erika loved it. She said, "Thanks dad", then dropped it on the ground and played with her stuff animals.
Whoa sister, careful where you point that! The red LED from RadioShack can do some serious damage. I've enrolled Erika in the National Plastic Rifle Association for a six-week course on blaster safety. She's learning some of the fundamentals such as:
