Select dining set wisely
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A dining table may be the single most expensive piece of furniture you ever buy. Choose wisely and it could last a lifetime and become a prized family heirloom. But let yourself be swayed by low price or looks alone, and you could land a lemon that wobbles, cracks and is too flimsy to be repaired.
Locally and nationally, complaints about furniture have been on the rise in the last five years, and dining tables are no exception. The most frequent complaints involve wobbling, especially with pedestal tables, says Cherie Reese, vice president of the Better Business Bureau of Greater Kansas City.
Local refinishers say many tables manufactured today can't be refinished: Veneers are so thin the tiniest dings or chips expose the underlying substrate.
The good news is, telling a good table from a bad one isn't rocket science. The differences are easy to see if you take the time to shop around.
Start by looking at top-of-the-line tables at interior design showrooms, recommends Jim Santilli, owner of Kansas City Upholstery. Experiencing excellent craftsmanship close-up will make it easier to evaluate the quality of more affordable tables.
At the very high and very low ends of the price spectrum, quality is predictable. An $8,000 dining table will almost certainly be finely crafted, and a $500 table will almost certainly not be.
But in the middle range, say between $2,000 and $4,000, price is a very unreliable indicator of quality. A $2,500 dining table could be a good investment and a permanent addition to your home, or a big waste of money.
Heidi Mikhail of Prairie Village, Kan., learned the hard way that you can't judge a table by appearance alone. Last year, Mikhail bought a table and six chairs for $600. "The table is really pretty, and I get compliments on it all the time," she said.
But the table scratches so easily Mikhail is afraid to set anything on it. Plates, glasses or silverware scooting across the surface leave scratches in the very dark finish that won't come out. "It's very frustrating," she said.
Mikhail now notices how much better one friend's more expensive table has held up. It has a "bulletproof" finish that seems impervious to light surface scratching. "I would definitely pay more next time," she said.
Here are the main considerations in buying a table:
A dining table is the centerpiece of any room it occupies. Interior designer Patrick McFarland of Madden-McFarland Interiors in Leawood, Kan., says most of his clients want a formal table with a "wow" factor. If that's the look you want, you probably want a veneered table. Good veneers have more dramatic patterning in the grain than solid wood.Veneers have been around since ancient Egypt, says furniture designer and restorer Albert de Leon, co-owner of De Leon Furniture in Kansas City, Kan. Done properly, they offer some advantages over solid wood. For example, they are less likely to warp or cup over time.Such tables are also the most expensive and most often seen at designers-only showrooms."Veneer is great in the hands of a craftsman, but in factory furniture it is usually a cost-cutting measure. The slightest chip and you'll see ugly particleboard underneath," said Asa Christiana, editor of Fine Woodworking magazine.Solid wood can take more of a beating than veneer — dings can add to its character over time — and is probably a safer bet in terms of quality than veneer in the middle price ranges. But solid wood definitely has a more informal feel than veneer.The appearance of the finish is one of the most obvious giveaways of a poorly made table. Many have a high-gloss, sprayed-on acrylic finish that looks artificial."There's no character or depth with an acrylic finish as opposed to a hand-rubbed finish," said designer Caroline McCallister of Kansas City.
A table with four legs placed at the corners (often called a Parson's table) is the sturdiest design. Corner legs and pedestal tables are the easiest to seat people around. But pedestal tables can wobble, so be sure to test one for motion when it's fully extended with all leaves in place.Leaves add flexibility, allowing your table to grow into a larger home down the road, said designer Joye Adamson, owner of Stoneybroke, an interior design shop in Prairie Village. Or, conversely, if you downsize, the table can be repurposed as an entry table or behind-the-sofa table.The best place for leaves is in the fully extended table, Adamson says. When the leaves aren't in the table, they should be stored flat, not standing up, to avoid warping.
Since six or eight good-quality chairs may cost more than the table, Adamson advises clients to start with just a table and add chairs later. She says designers are increasingly moving away from matched dining room suites."The china cabinet doesn't have to match the table, and neither do the chairs," she said.If you don't have the money to invest in a high-quality wood table, a metal table with a zinc or copper top that costs around $1,000 is a better investment than a poor-quality wood table for the same price.Or consider a second-hand table until you can afford the table of your dreams.
