I know, you thought this was a food blog..well, it is for the most part. But sometimes I drizzle parts of my life, my travels, and today my furniture into the mix. I seriously love new furniture…who is with me on that?
My husband laughed at me while I was taking these pictures, he said, “Who wants to read about a coffee table?” OMG I do! I love looking at furniture, peeking into people’s homes and anything to do with decorating. I love seeing how a room comes together piece by piece. It’s definitely something I have an interest in but don’t have enough time or the raw talent to do something with it.
Lucky for me I have a very close friend who is a designer with her own design business here in town, Kari de Lavenne Design. I love working with Kari because I can say, “Hey, come over and style this bookcase, this corner or this shelf or find me a coffee table or a mirror or whatever!”
She does not require each job to be a huge blown out project, taking months and thousands and thousands of dollars to finish. I love this! I pay her for my stuff and her time and BOOM…she makes things pretty. How cool is that? Do you know a designer who works like that? Honestly it’s the best. Plus she does a lot of DIY stuff which saves so much money.
Anyway, back to the coffee table. We have been looking for the perfect one for my Great Room for about 16 months now. Kari has shown me so many options…but each one I wanted to change just a little bit; different legs, different finish, different style. It has also been really challenging to find a coffee table large enough to balance the size of the room. Most coffee tables are small and just didn’t work with the girth of the overall space.
With really high ceilings (14-18 ft) and a large stone fireplace, almost everything we previously owned was dwarfed by the scale of this house. It all looked like dollhouse furniture when we brought it in, which means it didn’t work, so out it went. We have not rushed into buying any furniture, wanting to live with the space for a while to see what we would prefer and need.
I originally fell in love with the Hastings Reclaimed Wood Coffee Table from Pottery Barn, but it was too small (about 56″ in length). I loved the rustic look of the metal rivets and latches, the thickness of the table and its legs. But the length didn’t work with the size of my sectional couch.
However, after months of searching and turning down table after table, Kari found the Pottery Barn table I loved, but in a larger size, 67″ x 35″. The table was at a design house in Los Angeles. You have no idea how happy I was. The table was shipped and now it’s mine!
I know, I know..it’s furniture…but seriously…somewhere to put our drinks, our snacks, our Super Bowl food!! We have missed this. The table is much darker than the one shown at Pottery Barn and I have no idea if it’s made by the same maker. It looks like a different finish to me. However, the darker color actually worked better for us.
The metal on the table incorporates nicely with the metal on the stair railing that heads downstairs and sits right across from the Great Room area.
This large sideboard made by Stanley from their European Farmhouse collection also sits directly across the room. I love the bead-front doors, rounded corners and metal knobs and feet. All components working together with details found in the coffee table.
In this picture you can see the reflection of the table in the mirror above the sideboard. What I really love is the Provencal style of this sideboard, especially the rustic-corner details and how it works with the more casual table, playing nicely together in the same room.
One of my coffee table requirements was the table needed to be heavy in weight and in style. I got my wish. You cannot move this piece unless you bend over and give it a good push. Made from reclaimed elm, the finish is very smooth, not splintery as reclaimed wood can often be. The table’s thick legs also make a presence in the room.
Thank you for taking a peek into my world and humoring me in my furniture obsession. I have a few other remodeling projects going on as we speak. I will share those as things come together.
One Year Ago: Baked Crab & Almond Dip
Two Years Ago: Asian Lettuce Wraps
Three Years Ago: Tacoritos