The Perfect Kitchen Table & Chair Set

Today I hit the jackpot. About 30 years ago Rock and I had an oak table and chair set made for us. It was really sturdy and that ‘classic’ style that would look good for many years to come. And it did, we’ve loved it for decades now. But when Covid hit we purchased a fairly large china hutch to help supplement our storage situation since we didn’t have a built in pantry and, well, the hutch kind of squished the room up a bit.

I’ve been looking, off and on, for a new table and chair set for the last couple of years anyways, but now I’ve moved it from a back burner situation to a front burner – I wanted something different/smaller.

Sadly, nothing really tripped my trigger…until last night when I was surfing through Craigslist. BINGO

I have a lot of red accents in my kitchen and our latest upgrade in appliances had us changing from almond colored pieces to brushed aluminum.

I like neutrals for the main event and accenting with the real pops of color. Years ago I made these hand-painted knobs for all the cupboards in my kitchen. They’re red with each featuring an egg from ‘birds of north America’. What can I say, I’m definitely eclectic in my décor.

But today I added a big ol’ shot of bling. This is an MCM chrome and Formica set and it has red, lots of red! These aren’t the best pictures, its cloudy out and late in the day but I just had to post this now.

I’ve actually never seen a set like this one – it’s got all the bells and whistles. The table top is the gray ‘cracked ice’ Formica with a red panel running full length. The panel has a floral stencil pattern on each end.

It also has a double row of chrome tubes that are centered with panels of red cracked ice that are accented with chrome studs and a big chrome center circle – OMG.

And there’s double of these accents on the long side of the table. This table is about 8″ shorter than the oak one was, and 10″ more narrow. Now I have a bit more room to breathe in my kitchen/dining room area.

But what’s so totally amazing to me is the condition this set is in. The woman that I bought it from said she had had the bottom/seat portion of each chair reupholstered but that was all. And they did a fantastic job of matching to the back portion.

The chairs, oh yeah, these babies are a work of art. Red ‘leather’ with white piping and more chrome studs. And importantly, they’re actually very comfortable to sit in. My Grams had a plain yellow and chrome set and I spent many a happy hour at that table with her.

On the chair back is an inset panel and the background of the panel matches the gray cracked ice on the table top. The flower pattern is embossed with stitching and being an inset like this – they’re in excellent condition.

Even more of a surprise, due to the roll of the red upholstery ‘frame’ you barely touch those silver studs when you lean back.

I’m just so thrilled to have found this set and that someone else didn’t beat me to it because frankly, the lady could have doubled her price and still have been below the prices for the ones that are out there on the net right now. Though I never found a set that was truly as unique as this one and in this shape.

I’m in love, and I found it on Valentine’s Day – perfect.

Stay well everyone, Kriss