My search for the perfect dining table

Today I dragged my boyfriend to my favorite four-story antique store. I was on the hunt for a new table for our dining room. I guess I should say right now that I am a bargain hunter. All my furniture is pretty much used with the exception of like the bed, some bookshelves and some tables from ikea. I started gathering furniture when I moved into my first apt with two other girls in 2006. I have accumulated a lot and have bought and sold on craigslist and the like. Anyways, I got the dining table I have now from this antique store. It's round and pretty big and it was like a teak, I believe. I painted it black and got some mismatched chairs which I painted teal. When I moved out something happened to the little slats that hold each side of the table up, so now it's more of a half circle shape. It was like $60 when I bought it. I mean I know I could just get some pieces of wood from like Home Depot to fix it, but I'm a little creeped out by the table ever since my dumb cat decided to pee on it. It's never been the same since.

So yes, I went to the antique store and they did not have too much in my price range of $50 or less. I kind of wanted to just get a vintage dinette set but the cheapest set was still about $150. I found an apartment sized (small) metal dinette table with like a fake wood finish on it which came with one 60's styled flowered chair. My boyfriend pointed out that it would be too small for the room. I said that wasn't necessarily a bad thing plus it was $24 (with a 25% discount that the dealer at that booth was running). But I think he's right. Plus the wood is kind of tacky...on the next floor I found a teal, metal dinette table. A beautiful color! I mean, I love teal. Of course, being 50 or more years old, it was discolored in areas but still I liked it. It was $45. This dealer also had this sweet mid-century modern style chair that said "as is" on the tag. But it's only $15! The material is in decent shape but it would look great recovered. I don't know how to sew (I know, gasp!) but I'm quite capable of stapling.... Anyways, this is my inspiration for my dining room...I mean I'm putting a different spin on it, and not copying it exactly.

Damn I can't wait till I can take photos of my dining room. This was a reader submitted photo from Domino's website.

Next up on my shopping list? A new couch. My 60's couch leg broke off...it's repairable, I'm sure, but I want to go in more of a mid-century modern direction. I'd describe the couch I have now as "Hollywood Regency"....Love this one that's on Ebay now, but like 1500 miles away.