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. :)
Lynne Burns
Ohhhhhh.....those lamps.......
Karin Sorensen
my heart skipped a beat on the last sentence and picture. oh i was so hoping you got yerself a puppy. he's so cute.
i love your approach on "ha, it's already scartched" i'm the same way, i like worn stuff, stuff with a history, stuff with character. books, clothes, furniture, men.
pfff, the last one wassa joke.
anyways, the room looks awesome, just great.
patience is a virtue and DOES pay off.
you're awesome. no, i do you one better. you're the shit and that's it.
Karin
Jeanne Boardman
OMG! Those lamps.....amazing.
Sabina
Awww, he's adorable, too bad he was just a prop! I love mixing mid-century in with other design elements for a one-of-a-kind look. I scored a mid-century walnut credenza working an estate sale a couple years back and turned it into a media center. It solved a multitude of problems very discreetly without looking like it came unassembled in a box from China. I knew when I found the right piece I would know instantly and this was it! So yes Karen, I know exactly how you feel about this table! Looks great!
Melissa Stinson
Oh joy of joys! It looks awesomely awesome!! Grown up and sophisticated even! Well done!! I love the wait, it makes it all the more special. And the lamps...oh, the lamps...gimmee those lamps!!
You did good kid, you did good.
Robyn
As you were going on about the table I was very distracted by the lamps. The table is great but the lamps are awesome! That is a good looking dog too. Please give him a kiss for me.
Wendy
I love the table. My mum had one in her office for years, and now she's retired, so a friend has borrowed it until my mum downsizes her living quarters, which is when the black, veined marble tulip table will return to our lives in all it's splendour.
I feel sort of the same way about an Eames lounger. Black. It's the lounge chair of my dreams, but I don't really have the space (or time to lounge).
Wendy
Leisa
Very happy for you - you'll have it forever!
Vicki
Love the lamps!
And was that a typo... or did you really say you were going to make wooden shutters for your window?
Sally
It's BEA-U-TI-FUL!!!
Heather S
Oh yes- love the lamps personally!! Also love the whole space now. I do want the cute green plant!!!
Heather S
So glad for you!!! You finally got the table. It's on our wishlist as well.... it might be awhile... too many problems with this old house.....
Heather
Gillian
I love those lamps. Even before you told me how cool they are with their fancy turn on and off-ery.
I can't imagine that table any wider. It would have seemed entirely unstable. It is now perfect!
Jamie
Karen,
Have you ever checked out movelineliquidators in Oakville? They resell old hotel furniture at great prices (over half my furniture - including two leather wing chairs from the King Edward Hotel - is from that spot. Maybe you can find your leather club chair there? I'm a huge fan of the place.
Dan Stoudt
To grow your own "oversized twigs", plant a corkscrew willow. Or better yet snip someone else's twigs and root them in water for planting. They grow fast and you should be able to take a new batch of cuttings yearly, plus have lots to share.
Diane amick
THOSE. LAMPS!!!
Cred
Loooove the tulip table! And love that you got an awesome deal. And love those lamps- they jumped out at me even though the tulip table is a showstopper.
I've also been pining for one but don't really have the room and definitely don't have the budget (I'm not fond of the affordable IKEA version with the 2-pc base). Last yr I found a rectangular side table with a metal tulip style base at a flea market for $10. I plan to make it into a tulip side table which I will have space for. I want it to be actual Saarinen side table dimensions, so I googled the original tables- I didn't know they also sell them in black; I am smitten and torn. I like the black and it would better suit my decor but white is iconic. So, there it sits in my garage awaiting my decision. I guess I have another 14yrs to decide which way to go.
I love that your table was discounted but still not perfect so you waited. Then so deeply discounted you couldn't say no but could make it perfect (fit perfectly). I really love your whole foyer- so beautifully put together and yes, the natural wood elements perfectly mesh to keep it from being too formal. Simply beautiful! (with an exclamation point)
And I agree the black shades are best with your decor.
Ella
LOVE the crayon!
janpartist
Great score-congrats! I know how you feel. I've been wanting a button tufted leather chesterfield sofa for years. Still waiting.
Kelli
*slow clap* Well done, you! One of these tables has been on "my list" for years. I'd snap it up if I found one for that price too. But OH THE HUMANITY why did you have it whittled down??? I'd kill for a 48" version! Sigh. But yes, it definitely goes great with the lamps.
I literally gasped when i saw that doggie: OMGKARENGOTAPUPPEEEEEEE....oh. Nevermind. :)