A Tale of Four Coffee Tables

This is a tale of how I ended up owning four coffee tables at one time...which is coincidentally also a tale of three very tolerant roommates.

Those of you who have known me for a while may recall when I refinished my first coffee table for our living room. I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself. But I haven't been in love with it lately. It's not that I don't like the table, it's just that it's to heavy for this space. We have a pretty large sectional in our living room, and the upper drawer gives it a heftiness that makes this space feel a little crowded. That said, the height and general dimensions have worked well.

I posted a few months ago about my obsession with Hollywood Regency marble coffee tables, and I'd be lying if I didn't say I am still head over heals for that marble and brass combo. In fact, my parents got rid of their glass and brass coffee table and gave it to me to sell at a yard sale...except it didn't sell. So I have been dragging my feet trying to sell it through other means because part of me hoped that I could use that gorgeous brass base if I found the perfect marble top for it. But alas, I have not. And I'm not convinced that an oval is the right shape for this space anyway.

If you read that marble table post, you may also remember that I did actually purchase a marble coffee table, only to get it home and realize...nope. Way too small. Proportion and I don't totally understand each other yet, but through this experience we are definitely getting to know each other better. So that coffee table base recently got a fresh coat of ASCP French Linen with gilded gold accents. She's now for sale. If you're interested, drop me a line.

So the fourth coffee table? Well, in November I watched an episode of Sabrina Soto's High Low Project in which she used a mid-century travertine and brass coffee table in her high version, and a brass and glass with a white back coffee table in her low version, which got me thinking, maybe I don't really need marble, maybe I just need a material that reflects light and varies the textures in the room. I knew glass just wouldn't work for us, but maybe lacquered wood would? So I started searching for brass bases that I could put a lacquered table top on.

Then, around black Friday Gilt.com had a sale where everything was 50% (max $100 discount). That's when I saw this coffee table from Safavieh. This was the kind of table I had actually been looking for when I bought my metallic side table. I'm not going for such a rustic vibe, but the proportions were perfect, and I liked the modern shape. With the sale it was about $120, and shipping was only about $8. Then it occurred to me: if this table was reasonably priced and had good bones, I could probably work a little magic and transform it into the brass and lacquered look I'm going for. So I bought it. It was scheduled to come in January, which was awesome at the time because I had like a million things to do before Christmas and I needed to move a bunch of existing projects out of our house so I could easily wait to deal with this coffee table.

via Amazon.com

Then one night in December I got home from class around 11:00 p.m. and found this leaning against a wall in our entry way. Whoops.

Normally I am pumped when things arrive early, but I was a little less than excited about this one. It's still sitting in its box until I can figure out what to do with the three other tables. I'm thinking about gold-leafing or spray painting the base. I haven't decided if I want to paint the top, stain it darker, or leave it as is yet.

So that is how I ended up with four coffee tables. In summary, if you are looking for a coffee table, I might have one for you. Call me maybe?

Linked to: Miss Mustard Seed

Safavieh Alec Coffee Table