I've told the story about the ceiling in my newly fitted kitchen collapsing on to my new table and chairs. It happened back in 2000 and was caused by the bathroom fitters causing a flood. The ceiling was thick Victorian plaster, and the weight broke the new pedestal pine dining table and badly scratched the chairs. They all had to be replaced, even though they were only a few months old.
I've never been particularly happy with the chairs - they are lightweight and unstable when a large cat stands his front feet on the back of one... They aren't very comfortable, either.
So there I was yesterday mooching around Greenwich Market, and I found some solid oak chairs rather like this. They were so comfortable, I bought some. I bartered! I might even get an oak table to go with them. (You can't have a pine table displaying its beautiful top with 7 cats in the house, or it becomes a mass of digs and scratches, so mine is alway covered up, and it's as good as new. But I'd like to be able to have it bare).
Anyone know someone who could use a table and four chairs, going cheap?