Our last coffee table - bless it's rickety little heart - had to go. I bought it as a "set" with a side table at a yard sale from neighbors in our last hood for $30. The side table is still kickin...
I wish I had "before" pictures. These things were heinous. Not like they're any prize now, but before they were light grody stained/scratched wood, the drawer was falling out, both tables wobbled, etc. It was a hot mess, basically. So we tightened them up, sanded and stained them, and have been abusing the crap out of them for about a year and a half now.
you can kinda see the old table here - and there may be a little doxie in there too!
The bf and I eat in front of the TV. We always have. And in our precious little house we have not one, but two actual tables at which we could dine. I think we've used them a combined total of six times - two Thanksgivings, two Christmases, once when I got on a rampage about not eating in front of the TV anymore, and once the night that we moved into this house - mainly because there was nowhere else to sit. So in addition to serving as an ottoman, the wobbly little coffee-table-that-could has served as a dining table for us all this time as well.
When I bought it, we were just happy to have something to put in front of our sofa, so I hadn't really thought about the table (and how much it kinda sucked) until few weeks ago. In addition to being tiny, and an awkward fit in front of our L-shaped sofa, it was a drop leaf table, so every time we walked around the sofa, if our leg hit the side of the table, the leaf would flap up and then smack back down on the side. Not precious. Especially when it startles Bear-bear awake from his peaceful slumber! Also, random pieces of it had just started kinda splintering off. Not good. Or cute. It had to go.
How could you ever want to disturb this cutie?!
I thought about just getting an ottoman since Lane (that's the bf for those who don't know) likes to put his feet up so much. I needed a bargain, so I even considered trying to figure out some ghetto way to make one, but all I could remember was an old co-worker of mine slaving over making an ottoman for freakin' EVER (and she was so proud of it!) and after it had been in her house a grand total of two days, her husband tripped, fell on her masterpiece, and smashed the whole thing to bits. That just wouldn't do. Plus I thought that anything fabric would be sucky for us to eat on, and I didn't want leather (or pleather or bicast or vinyl), because we already have a leather chair and ottoman in our living room and I don't like mixing a bunch of different leathers together. Fabrics, yes. Leather, no. So ottoman = no go.
I put the idea on pause while we did the kitchen remodel (yes, ourselves - that'll be a separate post), but the other day when we were wandering around Sam's waiting for my antibiotic for my man o war sting (FML - again, that'll be a separate post), we saw it. It was like that moment in Christmas Vacation when Clark Griswold spots their Christmas tree in the forest. Bells rang, a light shone down - it was magical. Okay, so I might be exaggerating that part a little. But really, both of us saw the table at the same time and looked at each other with the same "hmmm - that might be kinda perfect for our derelict lifestyle" look.
It was a big solid square in the perfect wood finish to match our remaining "antique" side table and our TV stand. It has a drawer on the front with all these amazing sectioned-off movable divider thingies, and - wait for it.... - the other half was a lift-top. That's right. We could actually lift the food closer to our faces as we scarfed it up in front of the TV. Not to mention that under this lift top was more storage for blankets and my laptop and stuff. Not only could I bring the food closer to my face, I wouldn't even have to get up to walk the daunting 17 steps to the linen closet to get a blanket. Perfect? I think yes.
in all it's lifty-top glory
sweet, sweet storage space!
Now I know as an interior designer, I should probably shun the very existence of tables such as this. And I promise that I'll never, EVER own a magazine rack/table/lamp combo...
Oh my dear God. The oak and hearts just really set this off, don't you think?!
But as a designer I'm also supposed to pay attention to the functionality of a piece and carefully consider how it will fit into the lifestyle of the end user, right? Right. SO, let's run down the list... not an ottoman? Check. Perfect for TV eating & (BONUS) perfect for laptop work? Check. Fits in front of an L-shaped sofa? Check. No leather or fabric? Check. Will withstand the full force of a falling adult male? Check. I hope. Have not tested... yet.
So basically, it's a winner. And this is how it looks in real life, as I type.
somewhere in that pile of blankets there is a snoring dachschund
I was going to clean up all the blankets and the coffee cup and laptop and make the picture all cute, but it's Sunday morning and this is what we do! Plus I just got lazy. Sounds about right for someone with a trough for a coffee table, huh?
