Why Is Furniture Shopping So Hard?

I'd always considered our old dining room table a placeholder for the real dining room table we'd have someday.

Fifteen years later, it's time to upgrade.

What we have is a basic, straight-legged Ikea find made out of pine with an oval tabletop. It's a big, clunky blob in the open, airy landscape of our combined living/dining room.

All the Ikea chairs at that time felt spindly and insubstantial, as if one morning they'd snap under our weight and throw us to the floor in a heap. So we bought these shaker-inspired oak chairs that don't really go. (But they are solid!)

But have you noticed the size of some of the dining room sets that they're selling now? They seem either devoid of character or scaled to fill up a McMansion's East Wing.

Ideally, I'd like an extension table, for those times when we entertain (when we do, it tends to be for groups of 8 or more).

No pedestals, or turned or carved legs. Clean lines. Think clean lines.

Even offerings from Room & Board and Design within Reach - which despite the name are still sometimes out of reach - aren't tempting these days.

There is clearly a market here, because many friends have the same problem: Where is all the good furniture?