to think tablecloths are naff

[mrshansolo]

First time poster but long time lurker! A debate between me and my dh has resulted in needing the advice of the mumsnet jury (admittedly not the most earth shattering of topics!)

We are gaining a nice table from dh's grandma for our new house. He wants it to have a tablecloth "to protect it". Now to my mind tablecloths look outdated and cover up the very nice table underneath!

Aibu?

tablecloths on the table when not being used look a bit naff I think - I'm talking cloth ones, not the plastic wipe ones you have to protect table from messy kids.

I quite like a posh tablecloth at Christmas though.

Depends if you're bothered about the table getting trashed or not.
Do you have small children?

Who cares if they are naff, anyway? Are you worried what your friends will think?

I have a tablecloth, I like it. Who cares if it's naff?!

Depends how careful you, any children and any friends are. It would me a massive shame to damage something handed down when a simple piece of cloth can protect it and keep it as nice as it is.

Is it worth the ill feeling/upset there may be if it is damaged for a table cloth?

Are they? I was thinking of buying one!

Not a linen thing like your nana would have. More like a wipable Cath Kidston* type thing.

I know* CK is naff :)

I have a felt underlay and a tablecloth on my table. It was my grans. It is solid oak. I don't want it buggered.

When we lived in a cottage i had a lovely liberty print table cloth on my thick rustic pine dinning table all the time, in the kitchen, and it looked lovely.

Now we're in a modern house with a living/dinning ''through room'' and the the rustic pine looks a bit out of place already - but would look even worse with a table cloth in it. Sadly. The wood is getting a bit of a beating.

So i think it depends on the table and the room, the house and the table cloth!

MrsHanSolo your DH has been known to shoot people under the table and this tablecloth ruse may help him to hide his weapon. Has he invited any enemies over for dinner?

We have a table cloth to protect our table (with a slightly padded table cover underneath) from the cats who destroyed our first table because it didn't have that protection.

It also helps to hide the slightly sawn off corner from when my dad 'helped' me with some DIY a few years back

I think plain white tablecloths are lovely, especially good linen ones. I don't really care whether other people consider them naff or not.

Is it worth having something nice if you never get to appreciate the niceness.

When I was little there was a girl who lived around the corner who was never allowed to wear her new shoes in case she ruined them. She always ended up in wellies or shoes that were too small as she was allowed to wear them by then. Since then I swore that I would just use stuff. So no best china for me etc

I always have a tablecloth on my dining table. As Fluffy said, it suits an old traditional house more than a modern one.

Table protector and wipe clean cloth for every day. I did have a pretty linen one, but it got stained too easily.

With visitors that all comes off, I made a set of easily washable place mats and a matching runner with light padding/heat protector in it. I will be making a crismas version shortly....

See I have a tablecloth but would rather not. But I have small DC and the table is too beautiful to trash.

Ohh, Nomama that sounds like a good idea. I have some really nice Christmas materiel and hadn't figured out what to do with it.

material Sorry.

Well i have a nice cloth tablecloth that needs washed after every mealtime, so i bought a plastic one which was too big and looked shite, i have now given up now.

I like tablecloths but you need to find the right one.

YABVU

I love table cloths. Love old fashioned linen ones, gingham ones, marimekko ones. All of them!

(except those wipe clean ones. Yuck)

I have a table cloth on our dining table to protect it from the sun as its mahogony. Kitchen table is where we normally eat and is glass and chrome so needs polishing all the time to remove finger prints. We used to have a wooden kitchen table and used table cloths but i hated ironing them all the time. Ie most days as we are mucky pups.

We have a green and white polka dot oil cloth one on our dining room table. It looks ok I think and saves the table from too much of a tashing.

I think plain white tablecloths are lovely, especially good linen ones. I don't really care whether other people consider them naff or not.

Exactly this

Actually, I only use cloths for highdays and holidays but then I use a beautiful linen cloth that was my grandmother's. Normally we just use mats as our dining table is bog standard Ikea so nothing special.

I genuinely don't care if something that I do/use is naff, though.

Yes lowestformofwit the linen nan look is one I wanted to avoid! Well we've just got our first house so I'm a bit obsessed with getting it to look how I want it too. I do have a 10m ds so perhaps a compromise may be a naice cloth for meals and no cloth otherwise. Be a shame not be see the lovely piece of furniture we have been given!

Haha PecanNut yes I may need to check for blasters under the sofa!