About six weeks ago Xan and I moved into a new apartment (yay!). It’s a large one bedroom that nearly doubled our living space and it’s in a neighborhood of San Francisco that we love. To say we’re loving it is a complete understatement. The apartment was built in the 1920s and has the great charm from that era that true craftsmanship and classic details can provide. It’s got a spacious bedroom and living room, moderate kitchen with an eating nook, 3 large closets, and a big foyer. Oh, and did I mention, we love it!

The challenge now is designing and decorating it. Coming from a studio we don’t have nearly enough furniture for it (I’m not kidding – the bedroom literally only has a bed and some make-shift bedside tables). However, this is also the part I LOVE. I’m so excited to scour design blogs, read over every inch of furniture catalogs, and take a second look at the apartments of everyone I know for inspiration. The challenge for me is entertaining in a space that isn’t complete. Actually that’s the opposite of complete – totally bare bones. I took pride in having an apartment design that I loved in our previous place and I’m almost embarrassed to have people over at this point. But, with our new space being so much bigger, it’s going to take too long to get it just the way I want it (read: perfect) to put off entertaining. It’s something that is completely a part of Xan and I as a couple and our everyday lives. So, I’m going to have to bite the bullet and just do it. Starting with Thanksgiving. Our best friends in the city (see the wedding shower we threw them here) are staying in town (major score!) and some close family friends from NC who live in LA are coming up as well. I’m so incredibly excited to host for our dear friends. While also trying to ignore the voice in my head that’s telling me it’s a bad idea because everything isn’t perfect yet. Because I’d rather tell it to shush and take my time, live with the apartment, and get something really great in place.

So we’re starting small and concise and going to try our hand at scoring a dining table. Here’s what we have now (excuse the crummy photos – just snapped a couple spur of the moment). It’s a 60” steel table that’s used in commercial kitchens. We’ve had it for about three years and it’s been a lifesaver. It serves triple duty as counter space when we didn’t have any, a makeshift dining table, and a work table for crafts and projects. We will absolutely not be getting rid of it, rather just decommissioning it for a bit. Because now we have counter space for cooking and desk space for projects we want a proper dining table that is conducive to sitting, eating, and enjoying the company of the ones we love.

I’m having trouble finding the right table. We want something that’s no more than 60” long for everyday use (ideally a little shorter), but we want it to expand to fit 6-8 people. I’m looking for the right mix of style and functionality and feel like I’ve run out of places to look. Here are the ones were considering.