Design Direction

June 13, 2012 · Posted in Design Direction

Do you have a challenging space or need some design guidance? Design Direction is a chance for you to submit photos or videos of your design challenge(s) and a Vastu interior designer will provide you with some help. Every Wednesday we will feature one reader’s submission.

“Is $14,500 excessive for a custom made marble dining table? … We chose our slabs out of an available 9 slabs. Table is 96″x 48″ with a matching marble pedestal base. Pattern is a unique pattern found in a quarry in China–linear array of chocolate brown, light beige, grey and putty clay color. The marble store is high end…. I’m ready to spend money but I’m not used to it so wondering if I’m off the deep end! We will have it for as long as we live in this house (10+yrs).”

Large Oval Saarinen Dining Table in a Client's House

So we all know that marble is expensive, that’s a fact of life. But when does expensive turn “excessive”? In the case of your 96″x48″ slab table, $14,500 isn’t completely unreasonable. Knoll makes a large oval Saarinen dining table 96″x54″ in their White Extra marble that runs $14,236, which you can see on the product page is the highest price for a Knoll Saarinen dining table. However, you can get the same size table from Knoll in a natural Carrara or Emperador Dark marble for only $6,091 which is less than half of your price and Knoll’s most expensive Saarinen table.

You want to know if you’re going off the deep end. My answer is no, but you are at the top end of the reasonable range.. Investing in a large marble table is just that, an investment. You plan on having it for several years and can even consider it a heirloom if you have children and want to pass it down to them. There are definitely cheaper alternatives when it comes to marble tables, but as long as you know that and are comfortable with your expenses than you shouldn’t regret your decision.

[Side Note: Knoll has a marble called Calacatta which has an ivory white background and features strong gold random veins with additional veins varying from cream to green and grey. Sounds slightly similar to the one you described. A large oval table in this marble from Knoll is $9,223 for coated or $12,173 for the natural finish.]