Hi Amy!!! Good feedback on the table. But too late. Deadline for returning the table was yesterday. :-) Basically, I decided I really loved the table, and loved it enough to forgive it for not letting the chairs go all the way under. The thing about tall people's feet didn't occur to me (tall people have feet?? who knew!). I'm just going to hope it works out. If someone really needs to stretch out their feet with a glass of brandy, they'd be much more comfortable doing it on the sofa or armchair anyway - which are only a few steps away! I did go back to Room & Board this week to take another look at the black steel table - it's nice, and it would have gone in the room okay, but it did seem kind of cold and hard-edged. I just don't get the same feeling looking at it that I do with the wood table. Maybe if I'd realized this thing about the wood table's legs before I actually bought it and put it in my house, I would have gone for the steel table - but maybe it's just as well. (I can always CL the wood table later if I decide it really doesn't work, and chalk it up to an expensive lesson learned - or a "table rental fee". ;-)) As for chairs - they *are* really difficult! I sat in the wood chair at R&B. Not so comfortable. The leather chair was much more comfortable. Go figure. Finding a relatively small chair that is still comfortable and attractive is crazy. So here's a form vs. function thing: I found these chairs on the West Elm web site: The size is good, the style works, the color is fun and might work in the room. BUT (lots of but's here) - the store only had them in dark gray, and I'm nervous buying them without seeing the actual "persimmon" color first. (Colors on web sites can be deceiving!) The fabric was a somewhat loose nubby weave that might prove irresistible to a cat's claws (assuming I ever get a cat again). And finally, there's the issue of West Elm furniture quality - I got my coffee table from them, and though I like the style of the table, not so happy with the quality. On the plus side, the chairs were pretty comfortable. (For now. The padding felt kind of, uh, hollow, like it might not hold up over time.) Still intrigued by the style & color though - if anyone has seen chairs like this elsewhere, please let me know! One more thing about the table... Dd50, I did go back to C&B also and look at the 48" version of the wood table. They had it up on a pedestal though, so I couldn't see how it looked with chairs under it. Anyway, it did look kind of big, and I'm not sure it would have made that much difference with the chairs, so I decided to stick with the 42" top. Finally, Amy, some extra pix showing the little orange table: Opposite the sofa: Mocked up with the picture that still needs to be hung over the sofa, the curtains that still need to be purchased, and a smushed make-believe vase munged from my green lamp base standing in for a centerpiece on the dining table:

Thank you! Those are cute! Unfortunately, I am rather picky and don't like most normal cushions for my home. I want ones fairly tailored to the chair, not tufted and not too thick and puffy. They don't have to be expensive but the ones I like tend to be. The covers are removable so I will get extra covers. I don't think the dirt/food is that big a deal as the blue jeans rubbing off. I ruined a white leather purse once from blue jean dye. Most food, wine, etc will wash out.

0.04 inches is a little smaller than 1/16 of an inch. I don't think a relatively brittle material like Lexan will function well in such a thin layer under such a concentrated weight (you and the chair will be on four or five casters worth of contact area). You don't say how long the other runners worked until they started cracking. You might want to consider getting more (larger) chair pads and occasionally treating them with a plastic protectant. Or get a pattern which makes the cracks less noticeable until the pad is just no longer usable. BTW, office-furniture places and even OfficeMegastore (whichever one is near you) should either have or be able to order bigger chair pads than 3x3.

I have hardwoods so I put a cheap Ikea rug under my chair ;). It might work for you, though, because it's a very thin rug and it was really inexpensive ($20). The non-slip pad was extra. But, I have seen some pretty bamboo mats at office supply stores that are used under chairs to protect floors. I roll around a LOT so I needed a rug (2 computers). If you get a rug that is big enough you won't roll off the edge and then have to pick the chair up to get over that edge. That's what I would probably do in your situation - look for a low pile, stiff rug that won't wad up like a dish towel and will be easy to roll over.