Time For A New Coffee Table

It is POURING with rain. So much for spending time at the pool this week! This is actually good, because I am still sunburned from our summer kick-off marathon pool session on Saturday! Don't worry, I went to CVS the next day and bought factor 50. There's little chance of me getting a tan this summer!

In other news... I am selling the knock-off Noguchi table. I was going to wait until I had the perfect coffee table lined up, but the truth is I don't yet know what that is. I am thinking if I clear the area (and thus my mind!), the new table will magically reveal itself to me! I have seen a couple of options I really loved, but they have somehow escaped me.

Pros of the Faux-guchi:

The glass top makes the space seem much more open.

The sculptural aspect of it definitely appeals to me. In a perfect world, I think I would replace this with a gnarled tree root with a glass top, however I don't have a couple of grand to spend on a table, and I don't have the time or inclination to find myself a fat tree root and wait 2 years for it to dry out.

With the eventual plan to put in hardwood floors and a nice rug here, it would be nice to see the rug through the table somewhat.

I like that the glass has round edges and thus klutzes like us are unable to slice open our shins.

It photographs well....

Cons:

Although it photographs well, it doesn't look this good covered with the crap of everyday life, and as you all know I am far too lazy to keep my coffee table completely clear all the time. Life is for living, right?

You would think glass would be easy to keep clean, but actually every cold drink you put on it makes a water mark, it's weird. It wipes off, but still... coasters definitely ruin the aesthetic of the table!

I want the space to be more eclectic and I think that something more unexpected is needed for that. As you can see in the background, we are now the proud owners of a replica Eames Lounge Chair and the Noguchi next to it definitely pushes the space into too much obvious mid century. The chair is sooper comfy and so the table must go. Farewell, young friend! Hopefully there will soon be a buyer who will love you!

Any ideas for a new table, send them my way! I am thinking something wooden, a bit beat up. I am kind of taken with this lobster trap table: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/fuo/1191009834.html

but as yet unsure if it's a passing fad... I'm also not sure if I'm $70 taken with it. Maybe $50?

THATC: Untouched and Unloved!

I kept promising people I would send them pics of THATC from last summer, when we first viewed the place. Here they are, as promised! The place was a total disaster, from the holey basement to the unusable kitchen (the tap sprayed water across the room!). We immediately began tearing out the kitchen, ripped out that soffit in the middle and fitted an Ikea Lidingo kitchen with butcher block countertops. It's not entirely finished (still!) but I will take some pictures later so you can see how much better it is. We still have to live with the vile tiles for the moment, but they are bearable.

T immediately pulled up the carpet in our bedroom and laid down a birch coloured laminate floor. We weren't thrilled about it, but didn't have any spare cash and the laminate cost less than $100. We were happy to be rid of the 25 year old carpet, which we stored in the basement and someone just picked up last week to use as flooring in their loft!

We have painted the living room, kitchen/dining room, the master bedroom and the basement room (where we learned, painfully, how to drywall) and bathroom, and I began painting the powder room about 4 months ago then stopped. Now that school is over it won't be long until I finish it (I promise!) The office is now a bright yellow, which has helped me stay cheerful through some extremely long nights.

Furniture Frenzy

In the past few weeks I have bought a lot of furniture. I like to think that my late night trollings through craigslist have assisted me in keeping my sanity while I finished up the spring semester at school, which was mentally exhausting. I finally finished yesterday, and took a 6 hour nap to celebrate!

The end of the semester and a lack of time to clean has meant the house at the corner has resembled a charity shop for the past few weeks. Thankfully, I live with boys, and they've been very patient with me!

So here are some of my recent purchases. Some of them need some work (refinishing, painting etc).

Every piece was a bargain. The dresser was the most expensive item, at only $35! I intended it to go into the master bedroom but it is far too big. I have ended up really liking it in the lounge though, so it's worked out well. Also this means we don't have to lug it up the stairs, which is great because it's very heavy.

The nightstands were $25 for the two, along with a beat up old dresser (that ain't got no legs) that I am going to attempt to refinish. When I opened them up I realised they are stamped Kent-Coffey. I hadn't heard of the manufacturer but having done a little research since, it seems that they were a popular mid-century manufacturer. One table is pretty scratched up at the base and will need sanding and refinishing. I am going to practice on the dresser, as I have seen 2 sets of Kent-Coffey nightstands on sale for over $2500. I think the seller is a bit deluded, but still!

I went to collect 2 Breuer chairs and ended up getting 4. Now I have rather a surplus but am finding them extremely comfy! We also picked up 2 Breuer bar stools in not very good condition, that I intend to refinish and sell on. I really like them, but T-Rex is suffering from Breuer chair overload, and I don't blame him.

Although I didn't really need a new drafting table, I fell in love with this one when I saw it's cute blue metal base. It is much bigger than my old one, and not as easy to use as each side moves seperately! But it means I can draw standing up. I sold my old one on craigslist for twice as much as this one cost. Woot!

I was really pleased to find this thonet-style bentwood rocker for only $25. It is sitting in our boudoir, and it takes up a lot of space. But it is lovely and you can rock to an almost horizontal position!