After spending the past 14 years without an outdoor dining space…..we took the plunge and bought a patio set!

We were specifically shopping for an outdoor dining set, something that fit the design of our yard, something that would be durable, functional, good sized, but could also be stored over the winter fairly easily.  We wanted the chairs to be able to stack, which eliminated a lot of the dining sets that are out in the stores.

The previous weekend we had looked at Costco, but everything was too expensive and too big with bulky chairs and fancy tops.

We went to the Spa and Patio show at the Expo center, but all their tables weren’t quite what we were looking for, either- mostly due to the bulky chairs and fancy tops.

We checked Ludemanns on Canyon Rd, too.

We concluded that a Cast Iron table would be too hard to keep clean, the fancy tables were too expensive, and the wood tables looked really nice, but were also too expensive, stacking chairs were not common, we were going to have a heckuva time finding what we want.

We set our sights on building a wood table from scratch….but matching chairs would be an issue.

Here’s a couple of the table designs that interested us:

And here’s the chairs we were looking at putting around the table:

I was intrigued by the idea and started researching plans and we went and looked at lumber to get an idea of the bigger picture….but then we saw this table at the Home Depot:

Perfect!  Looks durable enough, stylish enough, the chairs stack, and if a tile breaks it can be replaced with another 12×12 tile (in fact, you could change the whole look of the table just by swapping out the tiles!), it would be easy to keep clean, decently easy to store….it would look nice on our patio….perfect!

Before taking the plunge, though, we decided to take one last look at Costco.  We wanted to make sure that we were making the right choice.  The Costco table is about twice as much, but is it twice as nice?  We left the store deciding that the Costco table is still out of our price range and that the Home Depot table would be the way to go.

But of course, after sleeping on it, we decided that we both really liked the Costco table better.   So we borrowed my Dad’s truck and took the plunge.  Fancy patio table- here we come!

Here it is:

I LOVE IT.

The above picture was taken before we took all the tags off the seat pads, oopsie!  And here’s the set without the chair pads, also showing better detail of the table top:

It’s a HEAVY table with sturdy chairs, which is why we felt it was a better value.  It has a slate tile top which coordinates perfectly with our backyard, and the burnt orange chair pads look great, too!

Oh, it gets better….

When we first checked Costco for tables, they had something called a “Cuddle Set” that was so adorable, and comfy cozy!  Two oversized padded chairs with a cute little coffee table.  Totally not in our plan, but so stinkin’ cute!  And on sale, of course.  We went to Costco about 3 more times after that, each time admiring the Cuddle Set.  The day after we bought the big patio table, the Cuddle Set came up in conversation again.   It was newly reduced in price, and if you know Costco, you know that if you like something you’d better just get it- because if you wait too long, it will be gone!

So we did it.  We splurged and bought another patio set.

The Cuddle Set will stay under the side patio where it’s protected from the elements, always dry and ready for use.  Maybe if there’s a dry stretch for a lengthy period of time we’ll move it over to the circle patio.  Jim and I enjoy sitting outside on weekend mornings, sipping coffee and planning our day.  We’ve been using our plastic Adirondak chairs for that, which is why we weren’t in a rush to splurge on a Cuddle Set like this, but sometimes when opportunity knocks, you just have to open the door!

So Sunday morning, we sat on the new Cuddle Set and admired the sun moving overhead, and the view of our yard:

We read the paper, sipped our coffee and talked about our plans for the day.  And when breakfast was ready, we enjoyed our first meal at the big table.

We spent almost all day outside, relaxing on the Cuddle Set again in the early evening before our guests arrived for a BBQ dinner, which of course was eaten at the new big table.  I could really get used to this!

Bring on the summer sunshine!