Hi all,

We just moved into our new home. Coming from a small apartment for the last many years, we'd love to get a nice dining room table and chairs. I have a hard time bringing myself to buy something $3k+ for MDF and veneers (Pottery Barn, Arhaus, Ethan Allen, etc). We're on the east coast if that matters. I'd say my style is sort of modern farmhouse. Though I'm not a huge fan of the beams/pipes in the middle (wouldn't our shins take a beating haha).

Right now I was looking at James+James. They seem to use all solid wood and their style is what I'm looking for (modern farmhouse with linen chairs). The farmhouse and vera tables were what we were looking at (Vera has a low bar, which seems better for the shins ha). However their Yelp reviews have me very concerned that they took a turn for the worse during the pandemic.

We've also looked Etsy, but it kind of feels like they are a bit less polished? The stains seem not as good (minwax?), a bit too many knots/veining, and end cap boards that run opposite to the main table. Also once you get into Walnut/Maple, prices seem to jump into the 5k range, which I'd expect a bit more style for that price (maybe I'm wrong).

For Amish, I've found a place called Synder's in PA. They don't list prices which of course is scary haha. We'd like to stay in the $4-5k range (ideally with chairs).

For chairs, we really like the linen ones. One thing, I'm a bigger guy (300lbs) and we play a lot of boardgames. So finding solid chairs with good cushioning is pretty important to me.

Thanks again for any brands or stores to look at!