Who Needs A Dining Room In A Condo, Right?
In 2006, when moving into his first condo, the author recognized the need for a female perspective to prevent it from becoming a stereotypical bachelor pad. Despite being organized and neat, the author sought help with furnishing the condo. With the assistance of his sister-in-law, they visited various furniture stores and considered her suggestions, except for the coffee table. The author insisted on a more practical and affordable option, considering his habits of using the table for dining, work, and relaxation. Three years later, the table had deteriorated significantly, confirming the author’s decision. Ultimately, the author chose not to have a dining table and instead created a spacious feel in the condo.
What Will Be The Next Step to Complete?
When I made the move to my initial condo back in 2006, I was aware that without some female influence, it could easily turn into a stereotypical bachelor pad.
I pride myself on being an organized, tidy, and clean individual, so it wasn’t as if it would become a messy bachelor pad.
I wasn’t one of those guys who still clung to their university days, so there wouldn’t be any Scarface or Bob Marley posters on the walls.
However, when it came to furnishing my condo, I needed some assistance.
That’s when I turned to my sister-in-law, who had already helped me with clothes shopping in my early twenties. She willingly accompanied me to various furniture stores like IKEA, EQ3, Structube, GH Johnston’s, JYSK, and more.
I took most of her suggestions to heart, well, almost all of them.
But when it came to the coffee table, I stood my ground. I mean, that was the place where I would rest my feet at night, so excuse the pun, but it made sense.
I’ve shared this story before on TRB (Toronto Realty Blog), but Lindsay recommended a beautiful, designer table that cost around $500.
The issue wasn’t so much the price. Well, perhaps it was at the time. But what concerned me more was how the table would be used.
I explained to her that I would be having dinner at this table every night, but she countered, saying, “No way, you’ll eat at your breakfast bar!”
What kind of single guy doesn’t put a plate on the table in front of the TV and eat from the couch?
I assured her that every night, I would put my bare feet up on this table, slide my clunky laptop back and forth as I worked, and place my pint glass of rye and ginger ale directly on the table, without using a coaster, every Friday and Saturday night.
I knew that within the next few years of living there, I would destroy this table. So, there was absolutely no point in purchasing anything more expensive than the $79 version from IKEA.
My sister-in-law disagreed.
Three years later, after approximately 1,500 meals at that table and countless hours working on my laptop, the table had become a piece of junk.
On a side note, I didn’t follow my friend’s advice to spend over $3,000 on a 40-inch flat-screen Sony or Panasonic TV. Instead, I bought a Maxent from Costco for $1,200. The price of consumer electronics always drops, and nowadays, you can get a 40-inch Samsung for just $349. So, needless to say, I knew that buying a $1,200 TV in 2006 and upgrading to a better brand in 2009 for even less was the way to go.
But I digress; that’s beside the point.
Regarding the infamous coffee table, the reason I knew I didn’t deserve a “nice” table was because I understood myself and how I functioned in that condo. I knew I would have dinner at the coffee table every single night, and I knew I would never set up a dining table even though I had the space for it.
Ironically, when it came time to sell the condo, I staged it with a round dining table and three chairs. I liked the three-chair setup. It was classic. It gave the impression that we didn’t have space for four chairs, but only having two would make people think, “This is just a glorified bistro set.” So, three chairs it was!
My first condo was 585 square feet.
By today’s standards, that’s practically a three-bedroom unit.