Wow, that's a set? Those tiles look so out of place on that table with such nice chairs. What an unfortunate table top for an otherwise nice set. Lucky you that your aunt is giving it to you, it definitely has potential.

Can you remove the tiles or can you afford to have a marble top made to sit over the tiles? Can you paint the tiles another color - there are paints made for ceramic tile. I don't think a runner looks odd on a round table and would definitely help. Where is this table going to reside, if it's in a dining room, I'd prefer a table runner, if in the kitchen the placemats work well. BTW, you didn't ask, but it's very easy to recover the seats, just unscrew from the bottom, staple new fabric into place and rescrew for a fresh look.

Sky

I like these placemats
{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

or should i go with something a solid blue?

i also like this runner...(would use the blue side)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=120189979884&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=002

The top looks like it was an after thought, maybe the original top was damaged? If you could remove the tiles, you could glue a new vaneer or laminate on it? Even a pretty table cloth would work.

It's a beautiful set otherwise. Lucky you!!

Robi

I know about the tile. I did think about taking out the tile an MARBLE! yay marble. That honestly probably won't be in the budget right now. Thought about wood. Didn't know how worth it it would be
It will have to be a functional table that we'll sit at alot. Our dining room and kitchen are all open. The kitchen has an island that you can add stools but for now we'll be using the dining room table. here's a couple pics. hopefully the house will be done by the end of the month.
{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

sky-i was going to ask about painting the tile. ...
what color would you do it? I'll have to do a little research.

Would a piece of tempered glass work? With something under it...like fabric? Or get it frosted so you couldn't see through it?

Sheesharee, first when you try to post too soon after another post the software thinks you're posting the same message double - so you have to change the subject of posting like you did.

I was thinking if it was painted in a similar color to the wood that maybe it might blend in better with the rest of the set.

I also like Bungalow's idea of tempered glass - if you didn't want to put fabric under it, you might be able to mask tiles with a frosted glass if you like that blue green color of frosted glass.

Sky

I would get a piece of fabric cut to cover just the tile area, then top with a piece of glass. You could change out the fabric for the seasons or holidays.

Or, think about getting contact paper in some interesting pattern (I think they come in things like a stone look or marble) put that over the tiles, then the glass. Something like this, comes in a variety of patterns.

contact paper patterns

The glass piece won't be expensive.

I must be missing something... why not just use a tablecloth? Round ones are easy to find, and if this is your everyday meal table, you could get wipeable ones. You could get one for every day of the week for less than the cost of getting a glass top, or repainting or retiling or something like that.

amanda t - no, the tablecloth was the first thing to come to mind. I've never really seen any i like, except for lace and that's not going to work. I'll have to keep an eye out!

fabric or contact paper - could you even get a piece wide enough to cover the table? i probably should've measured that while i was there. (since the start of the house the tape measure stays in my purse)

i'll have to see how it looks in the room before I go bustin out tiles :) maybe it won't look bad after all! i'll try the cheapest methods first.

What about lace tablecloth with a solid coordinating (to the rest of your room) color under it?

I have seen tile successfully covered with concrete, but that set definitely doesn't scream "concrete" to me. :)

As for fabrics, I don't know the diameter of the table, but it's nothing to find 60" decorator fabrics.

Perhaps remnant granite or marble would be more affordable on your budget?

You can also get formica/laminate in flat sheets that aren't yet formed over the underlaying board, and laminate is cheap. Perhaps a thin underlay with a laminate of your choice on top, or if there's any lip on the top of the wood surround you get just put the laminate directly onto the tile (maybe not the best solution if you plan to have the furniture for a long time).

Just some thoughts. :)

Or, can you use a lazy susan with some nice flowers etc to take focus off of the tiles?

Did you happen to see Candice Olsen on Divine Design last night? She redid or made (I wasn't clear on that) a round table very similar to what you have. She did the top using piece of tongue and groove flooring. It was beautiful (at least on the TV is was)! They didn't show how she put the treatment around the edge, but it was a very pretty table and would be inexpensive, too. I don't see the episode listed on the HGTV site, but it was a new episode last night.

Robbi