Dear Craigslist: We Need A Coffee Table. Now.

Dear North Jersey Craigslist,
We need a coffee table in our Study.  Now.

Our study is our reading room, computer room, television room,
and often it's where we catch a light supper together.
It's full of stuff.  Good stuff, but stuff.  And it needs a sturdy coffee table!

Our last coffee table was a big big architect's chest,
early 20th century, that belongs to our daughter Anne.

The chest, at an estate sale in Philadelphia, a couple of years ago.
No one wanted it so Anne, who had helped out at the sale, got it. Free.

 It now lives happily in her apartment in Washington DC.

The coffee table before that was a Hooker.

(Yes, I know.  I laugh every time.)

Anyway, it was a large, square chow table, made by Hooker Furniture,

and it cost me 99-cents on eBay.
It served us well, and just about the time we donated it to
Goodwill, it came roaring back into the pages of home dec magazines,
Who knew?

Before the Hooker, there was the Bootlegger.
A Craigslist find, this Art Deco table was sleek and held a really neat secret.


If you pushed in those end panels, they rotated, and
presto-chango!  You had a hidden bar, revealed.

How cool is that?
A bootlegger's dream coffee table.
Sleek and good looking, it was too small for the room.
I think this is at my sister's now.

However - to haul us back to the problem at hand - since the end of August, 
we have not had a coffee table in the Study.  We need one.
My feet are just hanging off the sofa, dangling.

O Great Craigslist Gods ... do your thang!

(A quick look at the North Jersey CL listings yielded these tables,
all cheap enough to make me happy.  Although nothing beats 99 cents. Except free.)

Slate tile top, metal frame.  Dated, but practical.  Good colors for our room.

The new table must be big.  No dainty tea tables need apply.
Big enough to accommodate all the glasses and plates of
the young'uns at parties and holidays, and our feet the rest of the time.

Glass or stone tops work nicely.  No coasters.

I don't mind painting to get the right color.
(The one, above, is crying out for paint to cover its
not-vintage-in-a-good-way 80s Miami Vice frosted color.
I can see it brick red.  Or black. Or almost anything!)

Some really nice burled wood in this table.
Very much like the old credenza our TV lives on, including the fluting.

Below, a glass and steel example from Pottery Barn.
I like the minimalist look; we've got so much stuff in the Study,
this could be a welcome break in all the pattern and color.
(And it's a great price, too!)

Hmm ... Not sure about wanting that lower level.  Dust.  Dog hair.  Dang!

So many tables!  And loads more,
especially when I expand my search to the rest of New Jersey,
or nearby Pennsylvania, or Westchester, or New York City . . . .

Whatcha think?
What would you choose? Any ideas?

What do you look for in a casual, family room coffee table?
Happy Friday, my dears -- Cass

Friday Link Parties!

It's Feathered Nest Friday at the French Country Cottage.  Click here!

Miss Mustard Seed is gathering Furniture Friday posts.  Click here!

My Romantic Home is home to Show And Tell Friday.  Click here!

At The Charm of Home, it's Home Sweet Home Friday.  Click here!

And at Ivy and Elephants, I'm joining What's It Wednesday.  Click here!

Thank you, ladies, for hosting the blog parties.
I know it's time consuming, but ... thanks!

Who Needs Words When You Have Teacups?

I am at my desk in the windowed Study nook,
brilliant sun in my eyes through the matchstick
blinds, and two dogs snoring behind my chair;
a peaceful Tuesday morning.

But my computer keyboard has gone haywire on me, spelling

words such as "Emily" in this manner: Emiiillylyiim.

Really, truly, I am not tipsy.  But perhaps my keyboard is.

At any rate, this is going to be a post short on words,

and long on pictures. 

In fact, I pretty much need just one word: Teacups!

At That Old House, we got lotsa them.  Here are some.

Colclough's Amaretto Rose:

Deep cobalt and gilt cups, from Japan.

Aynsley's Tatton Hall pattern:

Johnson Brother's Indies Blue:

Who hasn't bought Birthday Month tea cups?

This one, February, for daughter Alida.

And July, for daughter Anne.

Wedgwood's Patrician ware, painted in the Bognor pattern:

And except for the birthday cups, which I think we

bought years ago at Disney World,

all of these tea cups were ferreted out at flea markets,

thrift shops, Goodwill, or Ebay.

Pretty and cheap.  My favorite combination.

 Go ahead, put the kettle on. 
And invite me!  -- Cass
If we are lucky, someone else will do the cleanup!

Link Parties for Tuesday

Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage, and Tea Time Tuesday.  Click here!

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life -- it's Tabletop Tuesday.  Click here!

At Linda's Coastal Charm blog, it's Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays.  Click here!

Terri at Artful Affirmations is hosting Tea Cup Tuesday.  Click here!

PS  I think I managed to find all of the wacky keyboard typos and boo-boos.
       Please excuse some spacing and other odd copy crazies -- it's the Keyboard, it's not me!

One Pill Makes You Larger . . . Oops, Wrong Rabbit

I've got rabbits on my mind.
To someone of my vintage, mentioning Rabbit
is as likely to bring back memories of belting along with
Grace Slick as it is memories of this nervous gentleman:

Don't believe me?
Go ask Alice.

Don't get the reference(s)?

Back to the sandbox, young'un.

This image and the one above graciously provided by Karen, The Graphics Fairy.  

I am in goofy mode today.

Because, you know, mostly I am so very, very serious and dour.

Which should be pronounced to rhyme with "tour" and not "sour."  Who knew?

English is whack, man.

**************************************** 

I'm channeling Elmer Fudd, and going Wabbit Hunting.

Because Easter is just over two weeks away, and I have nothing Easter-y in That Old House.  Yet.

I know I've got a small cache of

Bunnies and Easter-y kitsch somewhere.

I thought it was in this chest in the Parlor.

Turns out, I thought wrong.

So . . . maybe I'd stashed them in the Dining Room, where I stash way too many things.

But no.  Not in the breakfront here.  See?

Nor in the sideboard, below.

Back to the Parlor, and that breakfront.

(And if you think I have too many breakfronts, you are probably right.)

Gasp!

Eureka!

In a bottom cupboard, we find . . . well, a jumbled dusty mess, AND

Wascally Wabbits!  Hooway!  Hooway!

**************************************** 

 Since it is Thursday, and I haven't done a Tablescape in awhile, I had good intentions of using

the new-found bunnies and Easter decor that had been hiding in the Parlor breakfront.

But . . . time.  You know, time?  That thing we never have enough of?

I didn't have it.

So, here's a 2-year old Bunny themed table.  Links to Thursday parties follow.

This was done in the first week of March 2010, and we still had plenty of snow on the ground, and more falling that day.
No wonder I was eager to go all "Spring Table, tra-la-la-la!"

What I used:
Sheer flowered tablecloth, from my mother-in-law.
Vintage embroidered runner, eBay.
Georgian pattern flatware -- ca. 1912 -- eBay.
Mikasa Ribbon Pink china -- actually belongs to daughter Anne but it's in my keeping; eBay.
Gorham cut crystal hurricane lamp -- from my mother-in-law.
Irish crystal wine glasses -- Macy's.
Amethyst cut-to-clear glass and pewter hurricane lamp -- gift from my friend Betsy.
Majolica style asparagus pitcher.  Not old.
Majolica style asparagus tureen -- Tuesday Morning.
Vintage linen damask napkins -- eBay.
and
A Bunny.  Pushing a basket on wheels.  No recollection where I got it, but it's just so cute.  And crackly.
I sure wish that basket was filled with licorice jelly beans.  

As night drew in, we lit the candles against the darkness,

as people have done since ancient times.

Time for me to stop hunting Wabbits,

and do things I must make time for!  -- Cass

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Link Parties!

Visit Suzanne at Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingies Thursday!

Visit Leigh at Tales from Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday!

Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for Tablescape Thursday!

And Sherry at No Minimalist Here -- don't miss Open House Party Thursdays.  

What's Blue & White & Blue & White & Blue . . . .

So I was talking with my sister-in-law Doris a little while ago,
and she mentioned something from the blog, and I said,
"Gee, I haven't posted anything today.  Eh, so what?"

But it sparked a little idea in my mind.

I decided that this week I am going to post each day.  

Yeah, again, so what?  Hey, it's a goal, and I'm sticking to it.

This ain't gonna be a Pulitzer winner, friends.

However, Howard won't be home from work till nearly midnight, so no dinner to cook. . . .

(Do you cook dinner for yourself when you are home alone? Last night I had a bowl of broccoli for supper).

All right.  Enough palavering.

Here's my post for today, and as my grandmother would have said,

"That's all there is, and what are you goin' to do about it?"

It seems that Blogger is playing fast and loose with the normal rules of posting pictures,

and I'm having a wee bit o'trouble getting them where I want them to go.

Therefore I'm just going to put them all in a bunch, and you sort it out.

No, only kidding ... kind of.  I am just going to post them, and I'll explain at the end.

Welcome to a really cheap blue and white table!

The obligatory stomach's eye view.

And that's all, folks!

From Dollar Tree -- big wine glasses, large white basket weave border dinner plates, little tea light spheres (they are so chubby and cute).  Also the plate stand that is holding the plate.
From Christmas Tree Shops -- those blue and white balls, one buck a pop.
Goodwill -- the cake plate, that I took apart for this setting and stood the plate up, and used the stand part to raise up a blue fishy bowl that I got at a museum store on clearance for $7.  Also the napkins are GW.
Restaurant plates with cobalt and gold borders -- a gift from my Mom.
The hobnail milkglass S&Ps were also my Mom's.
The bowls?   CTS again.  Clearance.
The very old plated flatware, eBay.

Can't remember where I got the Delft pitcher, but it was not a thrift buy.

Tomorrow?  It's a look back at what we did to transform our kitchen to better suit our old house, and the compromises that you just live with, because . . . that's life. See, Doris was telling me about their master bathroom renovation, and the subject of compromises came up.  So, Doris, you are responsible for today and tomorrow's blog posts.  It's all your fault.  -- Cass

Linky Parties

Tablescape Thursday at Susan's Between Naps On The Porch.  Click here!

Leigh of Bloggeritaville's Thrifty Thursday.  Click here!

At Coloradolady blog, it's Vintage Thingies Thursday. Click here!

And it's an Open House Party at No Minimalist Here.  Click ... here!