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Do you use table cloths at home? - Page 2

post #16 of 26
10/14/10 at 5:26pm
Can't remember the last time I actually ate at the kitchen table.

So no.
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post #17 of 26
10/14/10 at 5:32pm
Sometimes. Less than 50% but then again we usually sit down at our kitchen table for dinner. When it's more than just the family we often use a cloth on the dinning room table.
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post #18 of 26
10/15/10 at 11:37am
Can anyone explain why you'd spend $ on a beautiful wood table only to keep it covered with some cloth whenever you have company over for dinner? It's like those people who used to cover their furniture with those silly plastic protective slips...
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post #19 of 26
10/15/10 at 11:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CouttsClient View Post
Can anyone explain why you'd spend $ on a beautiful wood table only to keep it covered with some cloth whenever you have company over for dinner? It's like those people who used to cover their furniture with those silly plastic protective slips...
No, no it really isn't like that.
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post #20 of 26
10/15/10 at 11:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by iammatt View Post
No, no it really isn't like that.

+1

For me it depends on the type of meal we're making. Winter heavier all night type of dinners will see cloth, lighter shorter meals will have to settle for oak.
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post #21 of 26
10/15/10 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by iammatt View Post
No, no it really isn't like that.
Go on... Mind you, I understand using tablecloths for very formal occasions and if one has a collection of beautiful table linens they like to display but I've been to a number of dinners where the cloth was at least as expensive as the table if not more. If you spill red wine on the table at least you can wipe it up...
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post #22 of 26
10/15/10 at 11:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CouttsClient View Post
Go on... Mind you, I understand using tablecloths for very formal occasions and if one has a collection of beautiful table linens they like to display but I've been to a number of dinners where the cloth was at least as expensive as the table if not more. If you spill red wine on the table at least you can wipe it up...
First, I have to admit that I've never been to a house with plastic covers. I've only seen that in the movies, so maybe it signifies something else. w/r/t tablecloths, they can be used for many different things, but mainly they do what most decor in a dining room does... they help create the atmosphere in which people eat. You could have a very modern dining room and use a tablecloth sometimes to create some sort of juxtaposition, you could use it for formal only, you could collect interesting cloth, etc. Now, I don't know if your friends put plastic on their furniture in order to alter the atmosphere and mood of their houses, I neither know your friends (outside of pictures from "The Pen") nor do I really know plastic furniture covers. If these covers are uses as I suggest above, perhaps then I was wrong. Are they?
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post #23 of 26
10/15/10 at 12:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by iammatt View Post
First, I have to admit that I've never been to a house with plastic covers. I've only seen that in the movies, so maybe it signifies something else. w/r/t tablecloths, they can be used for many different things, but mainly they do what most decor in a dining room does... they help create the atmosphere in which people eat. You could have a very modern dining room and use a tablecloth sometimes to create some sort of juxtaposition, you could use it for formal only, you could collect interesting cloth, etc. Now, I don't know if your friends put plastic on their furniture in order to alter the atmosphere and mood of their houses, I neither know your friends (outside of pictures from "The Pen") nor do I really know plastic furniture covers. If these covers are uses as I suggest above, perhaps then I was wrong. Are they?
Understood... The plastic furniture covers I mainly remember from visiting the homes of my great-grandmother's friends who thought keeping the furniture protected with plastic was a good idea. I haven't seen that done in years...It most certainly wasn't about elevating the atmosphere...
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post #24 of 26
10/15/10 at 1:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by random-adam View Post
Our table has a fitted 1/3" pad that looks like actual woodgrain from more than a couple of yards away. Pad lives on the table 24/7.

Tablecloth only comes out when we've got guests of the sort who would knock before entering our home rather than just letting themselves in through the usually-unlocked door.

Most of those who know where our home is would fit into the latter category.

My parents had something like this, only it wasn't fitted, just custom cut to fit the table top exactly. The table cloth would go right over the top of it. I think it was to prevent any scratches, dents, or "burn" marks. Anyway, I got so used to eating on that relatively soft surface that an actual wood table still feels a little weird/rigid to me. We don't use one at our house (we have my parents' old table in our dining room -- the pad wore out long ago), but sometimes my wife will layer tablecloths such that there is still a cushioning effect.

+1 to the variety/atmosphere thing that tablecloths can bring. We have a batik one that was a gift, and a cool Ozzie aboriginal inspired runner among the more exotic possibilities.
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post #25 of 26
10/15/10 at 5:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by eg1 View Post
My parents had something like this, only it wasn't fitted, just custom cut to fit the table top exactly. The table cloth would go right over the top of it. I think it was to prevent any scratches, dents, or "burn" marks. Anyway, I got so used to eating on that relatively soft surface that an actual wood table still feels a little weird/rigid to me. We don't use one at our house (we have my parents' old table in our dining room -- the pad wore out long ago), but sometimes my wife will layer tablecloths such that there is still a cushioning effect.

+1 to the variety/atmosphere thing that tablecloths can bring. We have a batik one that was a gift, and a cool Ozzie aboriginal inspired runner among the more exotic possibilities.
My table also has a custom pad that helps to prevent scratches, burns, water marks, etc. The table cloth covers it.
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post #26 of 26
10/15/10 at 8:40pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by CouttsClient View Post
Understood...

The plastic furniture covers I mainly remember from visiting the homes of my great-grandmother's friends who thought keeping the furniture protected with plastic was a good idea. I haven't seen that done in years...It most certainly wasn't about elevating the atmosphere...


This seems like something Jews and Italians did in the '70s.
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