TIANLICHUJU — PERSONAL VERIFICATION WORKSHEET
A farmhouse living room where the timber table has a job
https://tianlichuju.com/journal/a-farmhouse-living-room-where-the-timber-table-has-a-job/

PROPOSED CHECKS — NO MEASURED RESULTS SUPPLIED
Date: __________________  Units: __________________
Room / product reference: __________________

1. Complete coffee table footprint
Where: Between the occupied sofa, regular chairs and the route used to carry drinks into the room.
Record: Mark top and projecting base in centimeters; note sideways turns, blocked feet and tray handling interruptions.
Your observation: ______________________________________________
Interpretation: A table is too demanding when its everyday footprint repeatedly interrupts the room's main movement.
Alternative: Test a narrower piece, two smaller surfaces or reachable side tables.

2. Top texture for its actual job
Where: On an approved sample or the actual table where glasses, paper or game pieces will sit.
Record: Note ridges, gaps, unstable object positions and the permitted cleaning method.
Your observation: ______________________________________________
Interpretation: Rustic texture is incompatible when it makes the primary activity unreliable or unnecessarily difficult to clean.
Alternative: Choose a more even suitable finish while keeping grain or character elsewhere.

3. Storage during occupied use
Where: At the shelf, drawer or lift top with people in the normal seating positions.
Record: Record opening direction, accessible volume and objects or bodies that must move first.
Your observation: ______________________________________________
Interpretation: Nominal storage is not useful when routine access requires shifting the whole table or another person.
Alternative: Move active contents to nearby storage and simplify the central table.

PRACTICAL TRIAL
1. Name the table's main job and reproduce it using an appropriate stable surface of comparable size.
2. Carry out a full evening including sitting, setting down drinks and leaving the group several times.
3. Ask the supplier for construction, finish care, delivery weight and safe movement instructions for the exact piece.

COMPARE THE SAME SCOPE
- Complete top and base dimensions
- Primary working surface condition
- Storage opening while seated
- Delivery and movement requirements
Cost drivers: Timber and top construction; Drawer or lift mechanism; Weight-related delivery and handling
Choose another route when: A substantial central table is a poor choice when smaller reachable surfaces support the activity without constraining circulation.

EVIDENCE BOUNDARY
This plan checks the proposed activity and fit. It does not verify structural strength or justify testing a mechanism outside its instructions.

PHOTO REFERENCE
A yellow slatted chair stands against a panelled wall, beside a slender table and a plant.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15A_Hanover_St_interior_(Unsplash).jpg

DECISION CONDITIONS
choose: Choose the substantial table when a recurring meal, puzzle or shared-drink activity uses its surface and its complete base leaves comfortable routes around the occupied seating group.
alternative: If a large center surface has no regular job, test a narrower piece or reachable side tables while preserving the farmhouse character through another useful timber element.
stop: Stop the purchase when the normal tray route, foot position or seated reach repeatedly fails, even if the tabletop fits the empty floor plan.

PUBLISHED REFERENCES
Ethan Allen: Occasional table buying guide
https://www.ethanallen.com/en_US/shop-living-occasional-table-buying-guide
Ethan Allen's occasional-table guide begins coffee-table sizing with the sofa's seat height and length and describes smaller accent surfaces for drinks and task lighting. It supports comparing useful surface arrangements, while the article adds a household-specific occupied-route test rather than adopting a universal sizing formula.
Scope: Retailer furniture guidance supplies comparison starting points; the actual user, projecting base, floor and required route determine whether an arrangement works.
Photographer: Breather breather
Licence: CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en

Notes: ________________________________________________________