I’ve always liked the Strut Table from Blu Dot. I’ve found one for half-off, and I’m strongly considering it for the dining room. What do you think?
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58 comments
Garrett
We just bought this table in slate gray. You can buy a little touch-up thing (looks like nail polish) for chips and scratches, but if you’re worried about it holding up to heavy use I just wouldn’t recommend it.
It is, however, an entirely STUNNING piece of furniture. Everyone who walks into our apartment comments and compliments us on it. It comes across as an updated farm table (the architecture of the legs reminds me of post-and-beam architecture of barns). Even our friends who have granny or shabby chic styles covet it. Definitely does NOT lack character.
As an alternative, what about the Real Good Chair? It can be paired with a more traditional table to update it and has a couple of interesting color choices. I was a huge skeptic, but when I sat in them I couldn’t believe how comfortable they were. Even my mom couldn’t get over it. Food for thought!
Alexis L., The Studioist
We own this table, in Robin’s Egg Blue. I like it very much but it scratches easily, tends to chip on the corners and from other people’s homes I’ve seen that the brighter, bolder colors (like Watermelon and the army green) can fade over time and come off. I would not buy this as an abuse-proof table, especially unless I were planning to put a piece of glass or plexi over the top. If I had children, I wouldn’t buy it.
Making it Lovely
I think this comment put us more firmly in the ‘admire from afar’ camp. Thanks.
Ellen
The table is Jenna Lyons desk! http://blogs.babble.com/the-new-home-ec/2011/08/29/where-is-jenna-lyons-pink-desk-from/
Making it Lovely
It’s so good as a giant desk!
Katie Stephenson
I think it’s friggin’ awesome, and I think you should get it! If it’s half off? Yes yes yes. If you end up not liking it, you could probably sell it for what you paid for it..that’s the beauty of craig’s list. If you decide not to buy it, I think you need either a different table or different chairs, all that matching wood in that room doesn’t work for some reason. What about black or white chairs, or a black or white table with the chairs you have. Or grey. Gray is good. My vote is for that watermelon table, I think it could work with your current chairs.
Kate @ change of scenery
Coming from someone who is on the hunt for a red desk, I say make the purchase. I love balance between bold color and simple lines on it and would look fantastic with a vintage side board or maybe even a long bench as the seating.
Kate
change of scenery
Sarah
I’ve been admiring the watermelon sofa table for months. If you really like the table but have reservations from the comments above you could get that :)
Fiona
Love the color, but I think the ends would be annoying for people sitting there.
Danielle
I love the look of it, but after reading the other comments, wonder if it would be better as a desk??
barbara
I have a white steel powdercoat coffee table that I bought at CB2 a few years years ago. It might be Blu Dot, I think CB2 carried that brand then. It’s heavily used- we eat dinner on it most nights, and put our feet on it too ( not at the same time :)). It’s held up quite well, no scratches so far.
eileen
Why don’t you paint your wood table and see how you like that? Is that crazy? I suppose you’d also have to paint the chairs. (Now I feel tired.) I think the scratching issues would drive you crazy. (See Stef above.) For that table and the money, I think the finish should be more durable. Also, is it pink? It looks red. Are the dot accents in your wallpaper pink?
Making it Lovely
No, I’d never paint the table we have now. It’s really beautiful, and a very lucky vintage score. I’m often fine with painting wood, but not in this case.
And yes, the dots in the wallpaper are sort of a berry pink.
Erika
It’s a very cool looking table and I actually had a similar drawing put together for a table I was going to have made. Although the top was going to be slabs of sliced trees. At the last minute the fabricator bailed and then shortly after that time I found a Danish Teak piece that perfectly matched my already owned hutch and sideboard combo. After going over the drawings again and again, I had made the decision to create a smaller base so that chairs could fit on the ends. I realized it would bug us not to be able to seat people there.
The other issue of concern was that everyone seated would have to deal with a bar at their feet. I just imagined stubbed toes, constant vibration from it being kicked, and a nuisance when cleaning underneath. I had opted to have the bottom bar raised up.
It’s really a cool look, but for an active family that likes to entertain it seems like there are some issues that would drive you crazy. I know, it’s that fabulous color that you can’t walk away from, isn’t it? ;O) Good luck in whatever you decide. I’m sure it will work best for you and your family.
Making it Lovely
Those are some smart modifications.
julie.
My dining room table is only a touch over 35″ wide and it’s been fine. Plenty big. (We are a family of 4.) I didn’t even know until now that it was considered on the small side.
Kids do trash dining tables!! Well, maybe not the kids, but all the wiping and scrubbing to clean up after them. My table (from PB about 10 years ago) has wood legs and a stainless steel top. I got it before I had kids but now am so glad because it takes heavy abuse. It’s all scratched up (erm, “patina”) but it’s metal so they can’t destroy it like wood. I have a cheapie ikea laminate table in the kitchen we eat at too, and in 2 years they have trashed that.
RebeccaNYC
I would pay very close attention to what Stef has to say about this. Buyers remorse is horrible, especially for a big ticket item. I also think a narrow table is difficult, my last table was about the same width, and it was really hard to put plates and platters on the table at the same time. Also, even without putting chairs at the ends, the legs of the people sitting on the sides would hit the bars in the middle, making it a very uncomfortable table indeed.
I hear you about wanting to replace your existing table, something more modern would be very cool in your place and I love the idea of a bright color. And bright pink? yes please.
priscilla
I think the end legs will interfere with sitting comfortably. But I love it.
Karen J
First of all the fact that you are asking turns my “radars” on. If you really thought it was a good idea you would not have asked. Secondly, wood can be sanded, restained, painted, cut, etc. so let kids be kids. Imperfections give it character. My humble opinion….keep what you have.
Jody
Like it, but not sure I like it in your OP home….love your current one and will be waiting to scoop it up if you decide on the new one.
Heidi S.
I love the look of it (and the color is stunning), but I’m would be worried about the durability of the finish and the pointy corners (at kids eye level if you aren’t going to keep a tablecloth on it). We have a vintage wood table (that came with lots of dings already), but even that has a table cloth over it most of the time (with a 2 & 4 year old coloring and eating on it). What type of chairs would you pair with it? We paired the Modernica version of the fiberglass shell chairs with old school wood pedestal table (we have stained beadboard wainscotting on the walls).
http://www.statelykitsch.com/dining-room-refresh-part-1/
Making it Lovely
You know I love me some Eames chairs. I feel like getting them for the dining room might be Eames overload in my house though! I feel like that table can pretty much go with any chair.
Esther
LOVE IT!!
Jessica
I don’t know…I feel like it is lacking a little character which doesn’t seem like you. Is it going to add to the room?
That said, Stef’s feedback would be a stronger push to “no” for me. Durability is KEY with kids.
I’m sort of facing a similar hunt in short time because my mid-century dining room table is being beat to H*ll by the kids. I don’t think it’ll survive much more, which is a shame since it’s an entire dining set. Argh!
Making it Lovely
I know, ours is an entire matching set too. We’ve considered storing the chairs and using a tablecloth for a few years, but I’m not sure what we’ll end up doing.
Carol
Our quartersawn oak table top has been saved by an inexpensive, plastic, cut-to-size, flannel-backed table pad from Target and a variety of table cloths. The pad is key to saving the table top from spills and other child inflicted problems.
Stef
Having been obsessed with the same table for years, I have to say no – not worth it.
I bought the Blu Dot strut coffee table as a compromise for the X-large table I really wanted, but didn’t have a spot for. I loved the coffee table too (in concept) and was thrilled when I placed my order. It’s been a pretty solid let down :-/ Granted, mine is white, not watermelon, but the top scratches very easily. It also attracts hair like CRAZY (2 dogs, 1 cat household) I’ve also scuffed the top with what I can only figure out is nail polish (as in, my nails were painted red one time, and now there are these large red swooshes in various spots).
All in all, its pretty, but a let down. Not worth the money. Construction is very solid, I will say that.
Making it Lovely
You’re definitely giving my pause, Stef. I need durability for sure.
Stef
I’m looking at it now and there are scratches over the entire surface. We *always* use coasters, have a tray that the remotes & magazines sit on, etc. The nail polish scuffs are a HUGE annoyance – I rarely even wear the stuff! I’m pretty sure the cleaning instructions say to just clean with a dry cloth… totally impossible.. I scrub it down weekly. Oh well. It still looks good from a distance, but I had almost immediate buyers remorse.
Sorry to be a downer.
Heather S.
Beautiful table but…..Beware the bars underneath. Hitting and bruising legs is no good. Chairs or sitting at the ends looks awkward.
The chairs you plan on placing at the length of table may not be able to be tucked all the way under because of the center bar.
I had a table similar to this one but I let it go because of the support beams under it.
Making it Lovely
Heh. Have you seen the base of my current table? The pink one would be an improvement in that regard.
Making it Lovely
On my current table? No, the legs are right where you would want to put your legs. Having the table legs on the ends would be better.
Fiona
Yeah, but the legs aren’t right at the end, are they? It looks like there is some space, but maybe not. I love the table, but it seems unwieldy for a dining table. JMO.
cd
Looks too form-over-function to me. Like you’d kick those bars and no one could be seated at the ends comfortably.
Christie
One thing to think about.. the chairs at the end of the table wouldn’t be able to be pushed in because of the bars at the floor on the ends. That would irritate me, but I love the idea of a metal table! Good luck with your decision :)
Emma
We have 3 chairs either side of our table and no chairs at the ends – I think it creates a really good symetry that way …
Making it Lovely
That’s how we’d set up the chairs. The table is long enough to fit four on each side too, if we have extra people to seat.
Licia
Hmmm. I like how it would look, but having the bar at each end will not allow the chair to go under the table, which can be uncomfortable.
Making it Lovely
The chairs would line up along the sides, none on the ends.
rose campion
I agree with this. I would hate to have a table where you couldn’t put the chairs under it. Very uncomfortable and awkward looking even when you aren’t using it. I suppose you could just not have chairs at the ends.
Amyks
Love it, but think it is way too narrow to use as a dining table, don’t you think? It’s only 34.5″ wide.
Making it Lovely
Our table now is 40″. I don’t think the 5.5″ will be missed terribly. Plus the pink one is 10″ longer than ours is now.
melo
hummm… Love the look. But i really think youre gonna miss the 5.5″. I dressed table in a store, its part of my job and if you want to dressed a table without cramping it, you need at least 40″. But, try it at home dress your table without this 5.5″ And for the 10″ longer, its not really a gain, because you can not really put someone at the end of the table… The chair will be stuck outside the table or inside the table.
Emma
Now I wasn’t too sure when I first saw this table – I didn’t think it would go with the wood skirting (sorry, that’s what we call the trim here in the uk!) and lovely shelfy bit you have in your dining room …. fast forward a few seconds and follow a few links and I see that you have painted the skirting – wow so fresh, lovely and modern, I don’t know how I missed that along the way?? SO anyway that completely changed my opinion, I now think the red table would look fantastic and fit right in, pulling out the red of the berries in the wallpaper … I say go for it!
Making it Lovely
I don’t think it would have worked had we not painted, but I think it would look great with the white.
barbara
I think it would look wonderful in your dining room!
Erin
Hmmm, honestly that’s too much pink for me. :)
Making it Lovely
Well, it’s an in between pink/red/coral color. They call it “watermelon.”
J
It’s RED.
Elizabeth Peremans
I think it will look amazing with the wall paper in there! So fun! And I agree on the kids trashing dining room tables… we have a black table and it looks more like grey on some spots cause of all the wiping.
Laura
I love this table! Its rocking an industrial vibe though, which I haven’t seen much of in your place.
Making it Lovely
I know it’s not well-represented in my home, but I am drawn to that kind of style.
Juliette
I think this is so fun in terms of color. Personally though, the supports underneath would annoy me b/c I don’t like having my knees or feet hit things. Also, if you ever used a table cloth, would the supporting elements that really ‘make’ this table be too hidden to enjoy? Maybe you could get an Ikea or yard sale table and paint it hot pink? I guess it’s really a personal decision, but it’s definitely striking (in a good way)!
JLR
I say go for it, I would.
Erik
Love it!!
e
whats wrong with your current dining room table?
Making it Lovely
I’m worried the kids are going to trash it. The wood is beautiful, but high-maintenance and somewhat delicate.
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