Finding solutions that make my life easier

When we moved into this house, we realized that with the birth of child number 6, our kitchen table was no longer adequate. So Jeff made a new leaf for it. It was a good functional piece, but without the tools or the desire to spend money on awesome wood, it could not be wiped down like the rest of the table.

So I came up with a brilliant (in my estimation) plan on how to get around it. All growing up we had some sort of plastic covering over our dining table to protect it. From us.

I took that idea and improved upon it. I found the fabric I liked, layed that down on the table, then laid down the clear plastic stuff you can buy by the yard at fabric stores( I got mine at Walmart) on top of that, and then stapled the whole thing to the underside of the table.

Exhibit A:



My, my, my children are little in this picture.

This worked so well, and made me soooo happy.

I found, though, that around 6 months the plastic overlay would start to get past being able to just wipe down, and we would throw it out. That's fine. 12 bucks every 6 months, I could handle that.

And then we were gifted my in-laws old table. The table that can seat up to 14 people. The table that is wide enough that you can have a fully set table and still have plenty, and I mean plenty, of room left for the actual dinner and serving trays.

So while it was perfect for entertaining, it no longer fit a normal width of fabric or the plastic overlay. Hmmm. What to do.

Well, I searched for wider plastic. None to be found. So I sewed a table cloth-I had to since the table was sooo ginormous. No regular size fabric or table cloth would fit it.

And then I layed the plastic down in 3 strips so it kind of overlapped, and I called it good enough.

Except it wasn't. The kids would run their hands under those overlapped parts, liquids would spill and seep under the overlapped parts.

And while I could just leave it all off and the table is perfectly sound and easy to wipe down, the 80's oak just wasn't appealing to me and I wasn't ready to strip it and paint it white. Which is my eventual plan.

Enter...fate. Whilst perusing Fabric.com, I found something called laminated cotton. Ever heard of it? Well, I had not. It's basically stuff you would use to make a rain jacket, or covers for outdoor furniture.

And it must be gaining in popularity because there were quite a few lovely patterns to select from and the best part? It came in 58 inch width. Which meant it is wide enough for my table!!! No sewing involved, and no plastic overlay to replace!

It arrived today, and I must say.. I love it! Passionately. It's like it was made for my kitchen.

Don't you think?







Oh, and guess what? Just 6 days til Mindy Gledhill is in my house!!!!! I still have a few tickets left. Get them before their gone!