How old is your dining set?

[Kartoush]

How old is your dining chair and table?

We bought ours 13 years ago. Not cheap but not extortionate. Solid wood. But it’s not very modern.

I still love the table, luckily we picked just plain furniture but we have the money to replace but dh is refusing as they are still in very good knick so he sees no point. God knows what varnish they used but beyond wiping down with a wet microfibre we do nothing else to maintain.

Chairs look similar to first image but I reupholstered myself 7 or so years ago. Material in 2nd image is basically what we have.

Just got watching an interior design instagramer who was just mentioned swapping in and out “pieces” on a regular basis. And I realised beyond cushions, flowers, small decorative items I don’t really do that despite having an interest in interiors and having the money to buy things. Seems a bit wasteful though.

Just wondering if others are a bit more playful with changing interiors.

I might paint but scared to mess up

1970's G Plan table and chairs bought at the time from John Lewis in their sale, since bought secondhand G Plan sideboard and cabinets to go with it. DIL says she wants first dibs if we ever get rid or die!

Ours is about a year old. We had it made to fit in our kitchen/diner. It’s got banquette seating with storage and a bench. Like this, this is a display model.

Ours was given second hand to DH by a friend of his parents about 30 years ago I don't know how old it is but I would say 60s or 70s it came with chairs but they broke and were replaced by my parents old chairs when they got some new ones. We have recovered the seats a few times.
I am really happy with my table and chairs and wouldn't replace them unless they broke.

Late 1980s Habitat table and chairs, still going strong

You can get decent dining sets in charity shops. Seen some sets with 4 or 6 chairs for £60-120 in the few furniture CS here. Trouble is you need to keep looking or get to know the volunteers or manager and say what you want and if something gets donated which could be a match, they will contact you.

My mum wanted a small bookcase and about a month later, the charity shop e-mailed her along with a photo, would you like it and gave a few days to decide and if not wanted, goes onto the shop floor.

Bought two years ago when we moved into this house. The previous one came with our flat when we bought it after renting, so we didn’t feel bad about replacing it when it didn’t really work in the new kitchen. We donated it to British Heart Foundation. The new one is a chunky industrial style oak with black steel legs, made by a small British workshop. I don’t intend to change it in the future. The chairs are faux leather and may get replaced at some point as I keep regretting not splashing out on real leather.

I have a beautiful teak extending table, sideboard and side table which are approximately 65 years old and belonged to my grandfather. Fantastic quality mid century modern furniture. The only reason I would consider getting rid of them is to get something smaller (the table can seat 10 and the sideboard is correspondingly as big) now we are getting decrepit and finding it difficult to host.

If you like what you have and it is fit for purpose why on earth would you change it, for fashion? You can update accessories, lighting, cushions, mirrors, pictures, vases etc. No need to change perfectly good furniture.

Really? Why? As I said, ours is about 50 years old and absolutely as good as new. It's been reupholstered/recovered 5 times I think. I agree that 50 yr old upholstery probably wouldn't be great. The cost of reupholstering is about the same as a cheap-ish sofa new, but the quality is much better!

@pinkspeakers I agree the quality of furniture is much worse these days than it was in the past

What's wrong with that? Mine is over 30 years old.

It was commissioned by me from a local craftsman and was made to measure to fit a tall family. It's blissfully comfortable as it has high seats and a high back and seats 4 easily. The only downside is that it weighs an absolute tonne due to the solid oak frame.

It's been reupholstered once; it would have been cheaper to buy 3 new sofas, and the cushion fillings replaced and will stay with me until I no longer have a room it will fit into.

22! Frosted glass top on metal frame. Big, very heavy and extends. I still love it, but the chairs need changing.

My dining table is antique, one of those oak ones with fluted legs that winds out so you can put extra leaves in for entertaining. It belonged to my grandmother.
Our chairs don’t match it at all, they are chunky light coloured wood with little visible grain and some round metal fancy grilles in the backs. I might stain them a bit darker, they are beginning to annoy me.

(Re old sofas - I have a 1920s sofa and chairs in my “parlour”, recovered with Morris-like velvet. One of my leather chesterfields in the study is antique, meaning decrepit and I think the other must be about 1960s.)

Give it another couple months and see adverts "order your dining set ready for Xmas".

The same goes for sofas. If you get a decent, classic style sofa, it will last for years. My chocolate brown sofa is 14 years old and looks as good as new. Those fabric zero support things from DFS last as long as the monthly repayments you paid for it.

My parents' had to get rid of their 27 year old leather sofa and 2 armchairs as when they moved house, the sofa was far too big for their new home.

My what?

The table and chairs were left in the house when we moved in 10 years ago. They're roughly mid century copies of a Georgian design. Not what I would have chosen but the table is nice and wide so we can have things in the middle and still sit both sides. We bought some extra chairs that contrast but complement the style from Barker & Stonehouse.

Added a pic. It extends to double the size (really easily).

Anyone hazard a guess at its age? It was definitely used throughout my grandmothers marriage, so at least 100 years.

Solid oak gateleg table, we’ve had it for over 35 years. No plans to pension it off!

The other day I heard a ‘statement’ dining table mentioned in an ad for furniture.

What, may I ask, is a ‘statement’ dining table? One that is obviously very new and looks expensive, even if it wasn’t particularly? Or a bright pink or orange one, making a ‘statement’ about how quirkily original you are?

Mine was from IKEA about 20 years ago. It's just beginning to show some signs of wear but not enough to even consider replacing yet.

Tbh, I had no idea it would last so long. When I bought it, I was expecting to get around 5 years from it.

I’ve got that exact one! Wood bros. Old Charm, isn’t it?

Our chairs are slightly different, though.

27 years. It's just a solid pine table and chairs, a bit past it's best but it could be fixed. A bit dated. I've been thinking of getting another, but not because of it's age, just because it's too small.

Really? Wow. Is that the make? There are no names or marks on it, it’s just been handed down the family.

I just had a look at their page and I think the table is older than the company.

We bought them when we got married in 1987. 80s dark wood.

They are quite plain and solid. I’ve reupholstered the chairs a few times and they could probably do with being done again. Every now and then I wonder if I should change them for something more modern but that seems so wasteful and they are nice. They will be back in fashion one day, mark my words.

Yes I would love to see pics of all these old dining sets. I especially love what is now termed MCM. OH had visited the Ercol factory lots in the past and says the turning of spindles was amazing to watch

Have you noticed any adverts on TV seem to sport a MCM sideboard that I would love but way too big

Ours is Gplan, from the 1960s. Recued from going in a skip around 30 years ago. I've recovered the chairs, and that's about it.