Protecting £1k table from toddler..?

[florapalum]

So we bought a super expensive vintage scandinavian table - it's going to be our main dining table for us and our two year old. Yes, this was stupid. But we love it, so there we go.

Would love to be able to protect it from our toddler, without ruining the aesthetic with a bit of glass/leather table cover/always there solution.
We were thinking just large plain cork mats to throw on and off as needed?
Haven't yet found anything quite right. What do you guys use on your tables? Am I overthinking this? Would love some recommendations of mats/products/out there solutions which may exist. Thanks!

🤣

This.

We have a massive antique mahogany table in our kitchen. It’s lovely but if I leave it uncovered it gets scratched by the teenagers even with large cork mats on it. So I end up using the leatherette cover and a table cloth.

We have a big blonde oak table, ten seater. Bought it ‘for a lifetime.’ Inevitably, it hath ended up fucked. Personally I’d just reconcile myself to refinishing it when they’re about 23, teens are also accident prone so it doesn’t really get better with age! Also, all this talk of the top, but whoaw check out the underside of a table in a house where kids live 🙀

We have similar. It looks rough these days, but I plan to get the top sanded off and re sealed at some stage.

I think you may need
To readjust your expectations. Our dining table is fucked as it has been used for crafts / painting etc. I'll replace it when they get to about 16.

If it's in a dining room that you can shut the door on fine, if it's the main table I'd rethink your aesthetic.

I'd consider storage till the two-year-old buys their own place - they go rogue at uni, come back worse than when they left, so don't be lulled into a false sense of safety - you'll maybe get a few years of interrupted use of that lovely table before the grandkids arrive.
Alternatively, sell it and buy something less lovely that you can use.

Here is the perfect solution.

You'll cover it up with oil cloths and mats etc and then one day you'll have 4 friends over for dinner and one of them will spill red wine on it or someone will let a water glass rest directly on the table etc. I'd just use it I think.

We recently invested in a beautiful black walnut dining room table made by an independent furniture-maker. He "finished" it for us to offer extra protection but also told us that the most important thing about spills is to clean them up fast - the longer the wine/acid/whatever stays on the wood, the less likely to permanently stain.

Our previous table - for the toddler/kid years - was an antique mahogany one I got for a steal at a charity shop. We used it until kids were older and then refinished it.

And become very familiar with stain remedies. Mayo is supposed to be good for water stains, not sure about wine stains or oil stains. Judging by the state of my lovely linen tablecloth after Christmas dinner (all adults at the table) - you'll need a whole cupboard full of stain solutions.

But it's going to look horrible if it has loads of red wine, water and oil stains - I'm guessing that's not the OP's interior design vibe.
Which looks better/worse- a stained tabletop or an oilcloth?

I'd cover it when glue/paint/felt tips are about, but otherwise just use it and wipe up after each meal.

We wax ours regularly. What finish is it that you are so worried about?

Who wants to live in a museum anyway?! I'd just do what you can to protect/preserve but otherwise accept that there will inevitably be a bit of damage down the line. You love the table so enjoy it.

There's a whole range between museum and wrecked table top, it's not a binary choice 😀

Unless your design sensibilities are offended by an oil cloth I've always found that the easiest option, quick to remove, easy to clean up and cheap to replace when it inevitably gets a stain you can't remove

We have an oilcloth on all the time. Change it about every 2 years when I get bored of the pattern and have a separate Christmas themed one. We get them from Dunelm. This is the current one.

Our table got burned by a candle on Christmas Day, no idea it had burned through the glass holder until it was too late ... four of us round the table all 60+ ....

My late father used to periodically take their beautiful teak mid century table out on to the lawn and use his electric sander on it til all the marks had disappeared. Some teak oil and voila.. good as new.

I got a stain-repellent linen tablecloth, I think it was treated with wax or something, it looked lovely you couldn't see the coating and it was suggested to be as good as those plastic-coated tablecloths - it wasn't, so don't go there.

We have a nice dining table (parquet design so the tiny grooves aren't very toddler-mess friendly). We have a clear plastic table cloth on it at all times. It obviously makes the table less beautiful but you can still appreciate the pattern.

We have some very lovely and hugely practical silicon table mats from yoyo. They are wipe clean, heatproof and look gorgeous.

Before this we trained cork (things stick to them, easy to pick apart), fabric (fade and always need washing, not very heat protective for the table), plastic (get smelly easily and stick together, melt with hot pots). I've had the silicon ones for several years now and they look and function as well as they did on day 1

A huge range of designs and colours available.

oyoylivingdesign.co.uk/search?q=placemats*&type=product%2ccollection

Keep re-usable table cloths, even plastic ones you can wipe clean, for when your 2 year old is drawing/eating something that could stain it. Add and remove as you use. This is what I had to do when DS painted on his wooden table!

This is also our solution. We've had plain ones, funky colored ones, festive ones, all wipe clean and all stress free ways to ensure our table isn't covered in marks / damaged.
Our table gets a lot of use though, all meals are eaten at it (DD us a small separate table next to it but tends to eat most meals at the main table and use that one for crafts).