Stool Sample

The stools are in!  The stools are in!  I'm doing a happy dance here, and you had just better be thankful you can't see it.  Don't tempt me either, I have a Flip so you could be seeing my happy dance in HD.

Stool Sample.  Still not tired of that joke.

The stools represent one of the single biggest outlays of expense for the table, and their importance is hard to overestimate.  If the stools are uncomfortable who will want to play?  Well fear not, I have sat upon each and every one and can assure you of their comfort and stooliness.  I was neither stuck on top of, nor did I fall off the stool, both basic indicators to the general suitability of the stool as a place upon which to sit.

It's happy!  No, it's Retro.  Relax kids, it's both Happy and Retro.

I ordered the stools from IVG Stores, and I was very happy with the price and service.  The stools took about two weeks to get here and they appear to be drop shipped from the manufacturer, the date stamp on the bottom of each stool indicates they were made to order.  The stools were priced very reasonable at just a few dollars above $100 each delivered.  I'm very lucky considering that 4 of the 7 were gifts from my Mom and Grandmother for Christmas!  That's good news for you too, now you guys don't have as much to buy from my Amazon links for me to break even!  I mean you still have to buy some stuff so get to clicking and add to cart, you'll be grateful you did!

Loredo Garnet

The stool's model is "Happy Retro"  it's chrome base and styling fit well with my deco/50's lounge mashup.  The stools are available in two sizes,  26" height for most home bars, and 30" commercial bar height.  My table is about 42" so the stools themselves are needed to be true bar height at 30".  The color is these picture is Laredo Garnet.  All in all I got to say I couldn't be more thrilled at such sturdy, high quality stools at such a fantastic price.

Most of the time I sell you things I like or use, so this time I think I will sell you things I'm not likely to use.

Splitting Aces

With so many differing table designs and so many different approaches to building I have spent more than a little bit of time thinking about what exactly I want from my table.  Most of my house has a craftsman or mission vibe to it, but my rec room where the table will live is a bit more eclectic.  Picture tan and leather colored walls, contemporary sectional seating, a framed scene from the original War of the Worlds, a restored vintage velvet Elvis (rescued from the side of the road), a print of The Beatles at Abbey road, and photos of Frank, Sammy and Dean at the Sands.  Add to that a collection of video game toys and you have my shrine to cool from the 40's to today.   I guess you could call it eclectic meets man cave with a dash or two of never grow up thrown in for good measure.

So first and foremost on top of just having a blackjack table, which is cool by itself, I want my table to reflect a visual sense of cool too.  I'm thinking Art Deco overtones like black lacquer trim with some geometric wood panels overlaying moleskin upholstery.

Attribute wise many of the table plans out there utilize folding legs, or leg solutions that make portability a snap.  Since my table is going to stay where it is at, at least for the foreseeable future so I think I want a more furniture like base. I also want to shoot for the highest degree of accuracy I can with all of the appropriate accessories like a toke box, a no peek device, locking chip tray, etc.

I'm still waffelling a bit on the height and I have yet to settle on table, counter, or bar height - but right now bar height seems like the winner.