A Washington, DC Dining Room 08.08.2013

I recently walked into the dining room at the home of my friends Rob and Lucy and had to catch my breath: the chandelier was breathtaking.  This is the Caboche Suspension Lamp designed by Patricia Urquilo (a Spanish designer) and Eliana Gerotto (an Italian designer), and made by the Italian lighting company Foscarini.  

I'm no expert on lighting or lighting fixtures, but I know when a room feels good, and Rob and Lucy's dining room feels really good. 

The suspension lamp is a recent acquisition in their home, but it wasn't easy getting it.  First, the couple had to get on the same page about the lamp:  Lucy liked it more than Rob, but eventually they both agreed.  Then, there was a wait list that went on for months.  Finally, it arrived and after two adjustments made by the electrician, it was in.  And now?  The whole room looks spectacular and warm at the same time. 

There is a mid-century feel (my favorite kind of feel) to the polymethylmetacrylate bubbles, but it could easily fit into a retro or ultra modern space.  Click HERE to watch a brief video of the designers talking about how the lamp is inspired by a '30s woman's bracelet.

Rob and Lucy found the table (made in Burma) in Thailand and shipped it here.  I have been fortunate to sit at that table a number of times and eat really wonderful, satisfying food. Both Rob and Lucy are great cooks and have no fear approaching adventurous food.  The last meal I had at their home ended with homemade beignets:  who does that?!

I saw a table lamp version of the suspension lamp in the Showtime series "Ray Donovan".  In episode six, one of the characters is getting it on with a lady who is trying to get his genetic material and boom!  There they are:  two Caboche table lamps.  (The lamps, obviously, are not the point of that scene.)

By the way, if you're not watching "Ray Donovan" you are missing out.  Even if it wasn't for the compelling storyline, interesting characters, and tremendous acting, it would only take the following two words to get me to watch this show:  Liev Schreiber.  He had me at "The Daytrippers".

Have an interesting dining room story?  A space that's gone through an evolution through years of uncertainty and angst?  Send it to me:  Four4Courses@gmail.com.  No more than a page with a photo.

Previous posts from the Dining Room series:

A Bethesda Dining Room

A New England Dining Room

A Dining Table in New York

A Dining Table in Maryland

Place: A New York Dining Room 07.22.2013

Ahhhh...the dining room!  We eat, we work, we play...so many reasons to take a seat. Back in May I asked readers to send photos and stories of dining room tables and I am loving what's coming in to my mail box. Today's table hails from New York, and is gorgeous. I love how the decor surrounding the table tie into the table's modern characteristics and color. My favorite piece of dining room decor is the giant Dubonnet poster. A large, strong poster, painting, etc. is sometimes all you need to make a room work.  

Do you have an interesting story behind your dining room table, or just love your dining room so much? Send me a photo and no more than one page of the story behind the table, or memories of what's happened around that table. I'll keep the series going as long the tables keep coming in. Four4Courses@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

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This is my dining room.  I consider this room and the living room to be mine.  "Mine" in the sense that I want them to look the way I want, almost all the time, and when I have a spare moment I want to use them MY way.  All of the rooms in our house sort of flow into one another without doors, so these rooms are not locked away, but there's a sort of invisible force field that says, "don't dump here".  (I also have a very understanding husband and 6 year old).

This dining room is a work in progress, but in my head it's all done.  I can see it clear as day.  We used a folding plastic table with a cotton tablecloth for almost three years while I looked for the right dining table.  It's a Robsjohn Gibbings table and it can be cozy for 2, or extend to seat 12 (or more if you squish).  It has some dings and scratches, but that's a good thing (see previously mentioned 6 year old). One wall is lined with floor to ceiling bookcases filled with cookbooks.  One window faces out and overlooks the driveway and our vegetable garden.

We have already had many holiday meals, nice, long dinners with friends, cookie decorating marathons, and impromptu snow day sledding luncheons for 15.  I like to sit here with a pile of cookbooks and pick recipes while looking out the window.

We do have a small glass top table in our kitchen that hosts most everyday meals, homework, piles of mail, etc., but this one is for me.

We still need the right chairs, but I'm not worried - I'll find them eventually.  And someday everyone else will see the dining room that makes me smile every time I walk through.

Place: A New England Dining Room 07.01.2013

Back in May, I asked readers to send me photos of their dining rooms and the stories behind their tables. This is the first story I'm sharing. Keep those photos and stories coming:  Four4Courses@gmail.com.

Here's my dining room early in the morning as I'm about to sit down with my coffee to check email and read the news online. I use this room, and specifically my table, to lay out my portrait paintings to apply the final protective coat. They must dry flat to prevent drips. It's also the workbench when I'm creating the lamps I hope to sell. This table is the perfect size to arrange patterns, cut them out, and sew the many barbie dresses I make for Lily and Miles.

But the best use of this table is when we use it for family dinner nights, when we sit around and encourage two small picky eaters to try different things. I get to catch up on the goings and comings of my daughter's busy family, and she doesn't have to cook or clean up, which makes her very happy.

When I moved to New England from Bethesda, I left behind my Crate and Barrel glass topped table. I bought this one, including chairs, for $150 thanks to Craigs List, from a woman who was downsizing and moving into her daughter's home. She was tearful when I arrived for the pick-up, but I promised to treat her family dining table with love and care, which I have.

Place: The Dining Room Table (Send Your Photos!) 05.26.2013

I woke up on Saturday and found this: a crumbless, dishess, toyless, paperless dining room table, with a vase full of lush peonies from our garden.  It's rare that this happens in our house because our evenings are filled with a flurry of activity followed by all of us collapsing into sleep.  And invariably, something gets left behind.

We have a small house and the dining room table is used for multiple activities.  It is, of course, our breakfast, lunch, and dinner table, but it also is our work and play table.  In the Spring, you can look out the window at huge purple wisteria flowers, and all the plants around it marking different times of spring and summer with various flowers popping up.  On bright, clear days, I like working at this table.  

The only time all four of us really sit down and eat and talk is dinner time.  My son likes to wander in between bites so we've taken to playing games and telling stories:  everyone has to say what their joy and concern of the day was, and, per my son's request, everyone has to tell a spooky story.  And his spooky stories are lists of things that might be spooky if there was actually a plot involved.  "There once was a spooky house...and in the house was a spooky dog...and there was a spooky chair...and a spooky man came to the house...and then there was a spooky tree..."  and on and on the list goes of spooky things.

We also linger at the table for as long as we can.  I grew up picking up the dishes the second eating was complete.  Not so since I've been married.  We stay at the table and talk for as long as we can.  When friends are over, dishes may not get touched for hours while we talk, argue, drink, and there are several rounds of general merriment.  Life is short...merriment around the table is a must.

The chairs to this table are in dire need of reupholstery but that will happen when the kids are older and not prone to waving markers around.  Therein lies the risk in one good dining room set in a small house.

The table came from my in-law's Brooklyn brownstone on Pacific Street after they sold it 2001.  It's mid-century modern and goes with the decor of most of the house.  

What does your dining room table look like in a zen state?  Or a not so zen state?  Send your photos to Four4Courses@gmail.com by Friday (May 31) with a story behind the table, and I'll feature it here.  Is the table a hand-me-down?  Did you get it in Sweden?  Do you have your book club meeting around it every week?  You get the idea.   

Here's to happy times around the dining room table this week...Happy eating all!

Peonies from our garden