I got a tulip table.
I could have started this post with any manner of clever sentences, stories or jokes but this is what's know as an auspicious occasion and it deserves the reverence reserved for such times in history. You'll notice I didn't even include an exclamation point at the end of my first sentence which obviously would have cheapened it.
I. Got. A. Tulip. Table.
Praise the baby Buddha.
From the outside, the past 15 years of my life have looked fulfilling and happy, albeit with a few planet-sized bumps along the way, but the truth is even though everything looked great I've been walking around with a ragged, empty spot in my soul. I had everything anyone could ever want, other than a tulip table.
Most people would argue that "things", material goods, can't make you happy and certainly can't feed your soul, and that's TRUE, unless it's something you really, really, really want and has been featured on the runaway hit Mad Men.
So why has it taken me 15 years to get a tulip table? Well. There are a few reasons for that including a shortage of either cash or space.
The Tulip Table is an iconic Midcentury Modern piece. It was designed by Finnish born, Michigan raised, Eero Saarinen in 1956 for Knoll furniture. 5 years later, Saarinen would die at the age of 51 during an operation for a brain tumour. His designs live on and are still being produced by Knoll exactly the same way in exactly the same proportions as Saarinen designed them 61 years ago.
Good design costs money. Good materials cost money. THAT is why a genuine marble topped tulip table from Knoll costs $3,000 U.S. (apx. $4,000 Canadian)
I did not get a genuine tulip table from Knoll. I got a knock off. But even knock offs are $2,000 for a 42', marble topped "Tulip Table" which I didn't want to pay if I didn't have to.
I originally wanted the table for my kitchen after borrowing my niece's tulip table for a photo shoot of my house with Style at Home magazine. I didn't find one for the price I wanted and time passed until I eventually redid my kitchen with the help of designer Carol Reed's e-design service and there was no room for any table at all.
But last November I redid my foyer and dining room and that resulted in 2 things; a) a fleeting romantic delusion about living in a condo, giving up doing stuff and instead spending my nights relaxing and posing my cats in famous scenes from the show FRIENDS ( "Turkey on the head" is first on the list) and b) acquiring enough room and the right spot for a tulip table.
4 months ago my mother spotted a tulip table at Homesense (Homegoods) for $1,100. Too much. I didn't want to pay it. My soul would have to survive all ragged and empty.
Just before Christmas I saw the same table, still at Homesense on sale for $900. Getting closer but it was Christmas and my pockets held only lint. Plus at 48" across the table was too big. I could technically fit it in my front hall but it would actually be too large for the space.
Fast forward to 2 weeks ago when I got a frantic phone call from Betty. The table was now stuck at the back of the store with a glorious, red clearance sticker on it. $349. For my marble topped tulip table.
I ran up there right away, I mean I can only be expected to have so much self control, and took a look. It had a bit of a ding on its base and the top had more than a few scratches. PERFECT. NOW I WOULDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT SCRATCHING IT MYSELF BECAUSE IT WAS ALREADY SCRATCHED!
There was still the issue of size though. Then it dawned on me that I could take the marble top to a marble place and have them cut it down to a better size for me. I wanted to take the top from 48" to 42" in diameter.
I made 6 phone calls and NO one would cut the top down for me. No one. Marble is soft and easily broken. Therefore most natural stone companies don't want to bother with what is both a small job and one that could end up costing them a lot of money if they ended up breaking the tabletop.
Finally on my 7th phone call I had success with a small natural stone store local to me. My new best friend Madison from Take Us For Granite was my saviour. Yes indeed, they would cut the marble down to size for me. That's often the difference between a huge company and a small family owned store. The family owned operations are usually more likely to do the small jobs that bigger companies won't bother with.
After meeting my mother up at Homesense and laying down the $350 for the table, we whisked it up to the guys at Take Us for Granite (my new favourite people in the world) where the son hauled it out of my mother's CRV and brought it into his father to get a price on cutting it down, and a timeline for how long it would take.
$400 and 7 days.
Just to be smart I asked how much it would cost to just buy a 42" piece of round Carrera marble. It would be $900, so cutting my piece down was definitely the way to go.
They duplicated the bullnose edge perfectly. You would never guess in a million years that this table top had ever been any other size.
The table top hadn't been affixed to the table properly to begin with so before I left Take Us for Granite they even gave me a tube of their construction grade silicone to re-adhere the top to the base when I got home.
I was so happy and after 6 other phone calls, so SURPRISED that Take Us for Granite would actually do the job for me and do it right away that I promised I'd tell the world about them and how great I think they are. Just like KellyAnne Conway did for Ivanka Trump's clothing line, only more legal.
So if you're in my general area and you need anything marble fixed or replaced or are looking for stone countertops or anything else granite/marble/Corian etc. related ... tell 'em Karen sent you.
Take Us for Granite, Take Us for Granite, Take Us for Granite.
O.K. That's all. Sorry ... I forgot to mention that Sam, the son, isn't shy about randomly whipping off his jacket to show you his flexed muscles if you want while you're up there, so there's that if you're into that sort of thing.
Now that I had my Tulip Table I could start decorating my foyer for real. I got it temporarily decorated a couple of months ago by way of putting the buffet in there.
But having the Tulip Table meant I could finally pull out these Midcentury Modern lamps that I've been storing in my basement for the past 15 years waiting for a time when I'd actually be able to incorporate them into my decorating.
That time has come.
Some of you like these lamps and some of you hate them. I get that. They're not for everyone. Only for those of you with exceptionally good taste. Just kidding. No I'm not.
My favourite thing about them is how they turn on and off. You slide the wood dowel in the centre of the lamp down and it pulls the brass chain that switches the light on or off.
I also wanted the room to feel less sophisticated than it was leaning towards with a white lacquer buffet, huge antique crystal chandelier and marble table. Soooo I added in as many natural and rustic elements as possible.
I kept my original stump table in the room. Added the lamps which although are Midcentury and sleek are also wood toned with grounding black shades. Displaying some oversized twigs, a really rustic wood bowl (with Ramones drum sticks in it), worn wood candlesticks and a vintage cow print I got the feeling I was hoping for. To bring a bit of colour over onto the buffet to pick up on the ferns on the table I added a multicoloured crayon too. You can see it the best a few photos up.
I still have a bit of layering to do and new wood shutters (hopefully) to make for the windows but the room is getting closer to what I envisioned. The one last thing I'd like to add in is a reading chair. My initial want was a copycat Eames lounger (more on that in Friday's post), but with already having the Midcentury lamps and the table, I'd probably rather go with something like a men's club chair. Something leather, worn and cracked in black or a caramel colour.
I found the lamps for $20 (if I remember correctly) at a flea market. I've seen them online for upwards of $700.
The shades are shades I found on some Ikea lamps I had in the basement and are probably temporary, buy for now they work.
So the table I've wanted for the past 15 years ended up costing $750 in the end. Not dirt cheap but buying it this way had 2 benefits. First of all, even at $750 the table was half the price of the cheapest knock off. And since I've wanted and adored it for 15 years I know it isn't a whim. It isn't something I'm going to get sick of in a few years.
Second of all, even if I COULD have found a tulip table on-line for the same price, this solution had a very important benefit. I had seen the table in person. Every piece of marble is different with its own personality. If I'd ordered the table online I wouldn't know what I was getting in terms of marble. I could have hated the pattern or colour variations in it.
One final thanks to Ross (the endearingly curmudgeonly owner), Sam (the flexing son) and Madison (the do everything gal) from Take Us for Granite for helping me out.
So after 15 years of pining, whining and waiting I finally got my Tulip Table.
And I also got something else.
Unlike the table, I only had him for the day. :)
Teri
You're the one! With the patience of Job. I've been hearing about you my whole life. I confess I had never heard of tulip tables, real or knock-off, but it is a might fine item. Congratulations on using your usual 'can do' approach to getting what you needed.
By the way, there has been a terrible mistake - what are you doing with my dog in your foyer? I'm sure he was meant to be mine...
Karen
:) I'm afraid he's not meant to be either of ours. I was dogsitting for a friend who has since stolen their dog back. ~ karen!
Carolyn
Congrats.... LOVE the lamps!
jaine kunst
You were talking about a table and all I could see were the lamps, those ugly but beautiful somehow, lamps. The table is good and I'm glad you found it but those lamps really make the room. Well done, Karen as always!
Karen
Yeah, they seem to be the star of the show today, lol. That's O.k. I love them too. ~ karen!
Edith
Hi Karen - so happy for you! I know what it's like to finallly get something after waiting for it for years. Your table is beautiful and timeless and it brightens up your foyer so nicely.
Karen
Thanks Edith! ~ karen
Edith
Oh.....btw I spotted one of your foyer lamps in the first scene of GREY'S ANATOMY Season 8, Episode 15...Right in the first scene !
Karin in NC
Love the entire space. Especially those lamps. Now I have a hole in MY heart. Must have them. I don't have 15 years, though. :(
ronda
Fabulous tulip table! And thanks for the link! I have a need for a smallish piece of marble or granite to cover the top of my TV table and didn't know if it would be big enough for anyone to be bothered to cut.
The dog is a cutie ... he compliments your decor!
NinaMargo
Great column, Karen. Love it. Hope you keep the pup. I see you evolving from a cat person into a dog person somehow, at least this type of dog, not a Great Pyrenees type of dog person...
About the lamp shades, I'm glad the IKEA black ones are temporary. Somehow they seem not quite true to your eclectic decorating style. Not sure what would be. You always find the perfect solution! Can't wait to see what you find!
NinaMargo
Replying to myself. I truly love the lamps themselves. Fighting down waves of bright green envy....
Karen
Ha! Well the shades although temporary are very similar to what I would have on the lamps. Plain, black. :) ~ karen
Carrie
Love it! I, like you, had been fixated on the tulip table for a long time and finally welcomed mine into my home a year ago. I needed a 36" table top and managed to find one online at Office Chairs Canada through Amazon Marketplace for $900 AND free shipping!! It really stands as a piece of art in the eating nook of my kitchen that is about to undergo a remodel around it!
Jody
Love love the lamps. I covet them. Love the table. And the stars are aligned. I have an old Singer treadle base and want a marble top for it. Take Us for Granite will be the place.
billy sharpstick
Beautiful table!
Sorry to dampen your elation, but the engineer in me has to make an observation. (Also we have more cats than I'll admit to.) How much does the table weigh? What is the diameter of the base? How much does Buddha weigh? How much do your cats weigh? Do your cats ever jump up on things? Do your cats ever go on random inexplicable mad dashes around the house, bouncing off of walls and furniture? See where I'm going with this?
(Although the fact that those lovely top heavy lamps are even still standing tells me that this may not be a problem in your home. )
Karen
Hey Billy. You may be an engineer but you aren't a furniture designer, lol. Don't worry. The original designer was not not only a furniture designer, but a sculptor and an architect. It won't topple over. The proportions are accurate and the base is weighted. ~ karen!
Mary W
Ramone's drumsticks - love that you surround yourself with things you treasure. Usually ONLY things you treasure. It makes it so Karen and a real treat to visit even if only virtually. I guess I need to send you a new baby card - congrats!
Leslie in Hampton
Oh Karen I love the table and the lamps. The table is so special because you have waited so long for it and found it on sale but also because you customized it.
judy
This is 99% perfect...I still don't get the animal skin....not a Vegan although I Don't like Meat but the entire skin of an animal on the floor gives me the creeps- on a chair is OK- just laying there on a floor looking like a little first aid would have it back grazing again makes me distinctly uneasy-what am I weird? That absolutely Yes .....was a little too quick guys. I love those Lamps-They scream "Ready for Lift off" to me. Very futuristic in any age. You are the most charming Genius I know that lives in a different Country-thousand of miles away,that I will never meet....but still I consider myself very fortunate to know you. Thanks!
5T
Betty
Beautiful! My mom has a round marble table. Now I know what I am going to do with it. Love, love, love the whole ensemble!
Melissa
Congratulations!! Doesn't it feel great to fulfill a life long dream? I love everything about your foyer...even the lamps.
Linda J
Cool lamps, cute dog.
Susan Stanford
I''m more excited about your new dog - what a great ending to the table story - can't wait to hear all about your new addition! :)
Anita
I love that you fully support people/businesses that have helped you out or you believe in.
The tulip table is lovely and so is the décor but the kind things you have said are even nicer- omg the yoga is getting to me- I am such a crunchie granola hipy freak.
Karen
I'm more of a modern hippie but I get it. ;) ~ karen!
Catherine
I'm a modern hippie is by that you mean yoga is putting on shoes and eating "crunchy" is homemade chocolate chip cookies rather than store bought.
E Wilcox
Congrats on the table and kudos to your mom too! Definitely not my style but good for you! Dog sitting? I am a big dog person, but that doggie is cute and pose-able too I see.
Anyway, well done Karen!
Cynthia Jones
If he was yours, he would be perfect for you.
Compact, well-proportioned, alert, disciplined, bright-eyed, willing to pose, colour co-ordinated, quirky and willing to look a tad scruffy.
Dogs are funny.
I think you would enjoy one.
Karen
That's hilarious. I didn't see the similarities between the dog and I until you pointed them out, lol. True. ~ karen!