Maison d'Etre

In which a girl buys her apartment and learns to decorate it from scratch.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

i learned to use windex on this danish modern coffee table


It's seen better days, but this here table was part of a set that came with the lake house my parents bought in 1971 in the Ozark Mountains. The couple selling it had to get out quickly, so they gave away all the furniture with the house.

It's strange how a piece of furniture can evoke so many memories. I can remember when I wasn't much taller than this table--I used to put my coloring book on it and scribble away for hours. When I got a little older, it was my job to clean it with Windex and Pledge. Once while I smeared Windex across the glass, the Gerry Rafferty song "Baker Street" was playing on the equally Danish Modern console stereo that my little brother recently snatched up for his own living room. That was 1978, and the radio still works. Someday I'll get George to send a photo of it. He owes it to me.

All that history. You can understand why I want to decorate around the table. It's like the perfect pair of shoes. Or your mother's old lucite necklace. This is the real deal--as authentic as it gets. It even makes me feel a little superior to all the people who go out and spend thousands of dollars on this type of furniture.

But the table is a little sad now. It's scratched (wicked cats); one of the side tables that went with it was given away by one of my friends (unforgivable); and another friend lost the glass top to the other side table (don't ask how you lose a twenty pound 1/2-inch-thick piece of glass). There, I said it. But I still love this table. So keep it I will.

Today's question: should I bother to get a new top for it that's not scratched--this will cost at least $500. Do I try to get the scratch buffed out? Or do I just love it the way it is despite the wear and tear?

More on the furniture from this house to come...

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