Trying to step up my kitchen

I tried to do some grocery shopping yesterday at Target but failed when the bulk of my available time was sucked up in a search for tablecloths, placemats & napkins. We swapped out the smaller trestle table that came with our breakfast nook, for the kitchen table we inherited from DH’s mom. The kids are now using full sized plates & silverware & that is taking up the space where we used to put food & condiments. The kitchen table is a 35 year old low budget,extendable table with 2 drop leaves. If I had the space, I could seat 14 at that table, but some of them would have to be outside because the kitchen just isn’t that big. In fact, with just one leaf up it is impossible to get to the seats against the wall without climbing over the side bench & once you are there you are trapped for the duration of the meal.

So we put Mayhem on that side.

Anyway, because it is a low budget 35 year old table it is full of scrapes & burn marks that can’t be sanded off, because it’s laminate & not that thick, so my ILs covered it with contact paper – several times. Fake wood contact paper, that has been peeling off in spots for at least the 6 years it has been in our possession (I’ve been using it as a craft table & have added my own nicks to it). I have no idea how to peel it off or a what to do with the table once I do because I am sure the adhesive itself will have done some damage or I will taking it off. So I figured I’d just toss a tablecloth over it and call it done.

I just wanted a wipe off plastic tablecloth with a fabric backing. Not the really cheap ones you use on picnic tables & perhaps some color other than white. Then after about 30 minutes of wandering I just wanted a tablecloth, any tablecloth. I could not find tablecloths in Target. My first thought was too look in the kitchen area because they have plates & glasses & dishtowels so tablecloths & napkins seemed a natural fit. But no. So I wandered around towels & bedding, reasoning that perhaps all the fabrics were kept together (though why dishtowels were not was beyond me).  Up and down the aisles I went. Looking at the posted signs. Rugs, curtains, towels, sheets, comforters, aprons, more dishtowels (on sale this time) but no tablecloths. I finally found them, hanging on a facing wall, disguised as hand towels and single pack bed sheets, which they were packaged like and hanging next to.

$20 for 4 napkins? Really? The tablecloths were reasonably priced but they were almost all cloth and mostly round. Target has gone back to the 70’s in their kitchen color scheme.  Had I wanted burnt orange or olive green or umber or goldenrod I’d have been in luck (though I am sure the color names are updated these days) My kitchen is white with some purple and dark green touches, medium wood and blue grey slate. Burnt orange only works in October, if it has pumpkins & black cats with it.

After a full 10 minutes of looking at every.single.package.there. I did find a plastic topped cream/green patterned tablecloth of appropriate size & shape and quite out of the blue discovered a 12 pack of white cloth napkins for 8.99 in the clock aisle while headed toward groceries.

The DH called & said “I’m 10 minutes from Arbys." (which is where we were meeting for dinner. He’d been at a gun show). So I had to go check out with the 6 things I did find and now i have to go back and get the actual food today.

I think I’ll go to Wal-Mart. I know where things are there