We fell in love with a table.
Let me backtrack. I was restless yesterday afternoon, so Don and I went for a drive. Not sure which way to go, Don said, “Do you want to see your bookstore friends?” And I said yes. So we drove along the back roads on a brilliant autumn day to Rosendale. We stopped at the bookshop and chatted with Jesse and Maggie and looked at books. Interestingly, I actually didn’t buy anything.
As we walked down the street, we started to pass our friend Elizabeth’s vintage shop. And then we stopped in our tracks. There it was, on the sidewalk in front of the shop. (I’d seen it when she posted it on FB, so had Don, but I’d forgotten about it.)
It was a vintage wooden French Bistro/Café table – the type that folds up when not in use. Elizabeth found it at Brimfield and brought it back to her shop.
We stared at it. Elizabeth said we could open it up, so we did. It was 36 inches by 20 inches. We were smitten. But where the heck would we put it? It had a gorgeous patina, with nicks and scratches and aged edges. It also had writing on both ends of the table. Advertising? The maker of the table? Not sure. We stood there. We asked Elizabeth the price of this gorgeous antique. It was very reasonable.
We decided to go for it. We knew we would regret it if we didn’t snap it up; most likely, we wouldn’t see one like it again.
On the way home, we discovered we had both been thinking the same thing. Why not put it where the loveseat was in the living room? We wanted it to be highlighted in some way and in our cozy and crowded cottage, that can be difficult. Maybe we’d put the loveseat in storage.
First, let me show you the table. Then I’ll describe what happened in the next 3 hours!
Here it is right after we set it up, in the late afternoon sun.
This text is at both ends of the table.
The other end. Can you see that gorgeous patina? Can you see French men and women sitting there, cigarettes in hand, café au lait in front of them? If this table could talk, what stories it could tell!
Now, our dilemma. After the loveseat had been pulled out of this niche, what to do? Should we put the loveseat in storage? After all, I’d had it since my Boston days and I’d developed a love/hate relationship with it.
Just chairs around the coffee table?
We tried it but it didn’t seem to work. I insisted there needed to be more balance, especially after we pulled up the rugs (more on that later). I don’t mind telling you, there were a few good natured arguments about what to store and what to keep. At one point, we felt like we’d reached an impasse and weren’t sure what to do.
We live in a small space, as you well know, and we needed to rethink things so that the bistro table had space around it and the room didn’t become over-crammed. Don expressed a desire for a slightly more minimal look.
I get it. I’m about to do a big purge anyway.
After trying every possible combination; vintage porch chair upstairs in the office, measuring the office to see if the loveseat could fit in that space comfortably, moving red chair to den (no and no and no) we decided to put the yellow chair in storage. It’s big and bulky and it’s looking a bit worse for the wear. To tell you the truth, I’d grown to dislike it intensely. Don decided he wanted to use the red chair as his chair.
But I wanted the vintage porch chair in the room as well, because as much as I’d love it upstairs in the office/studio, when I’m there, I sit at the desk. So it would be wasted there. And it’s my favorite chair!
This is what we ended up with. (Ignore the mess by the white cupboard, that’s still ‘in process.’)
We rolled all the rugs up except for the small, blue circular rug. It’s in the area near the stairs. The rugs were necessary when we had the dogs, but we found we were craving an expanse of wide-plank pine floors. And they really chopped up the space, which suited us for a while, but doesn’t suit us any longer.
We took the slipcover off the loveseat. It was falling apart, anyway, so it was time to scrap it. I vacuumed the heck out of the cushions. I ran upstairs and grabbed an old throw that was a rich, deep red and threw it over the back of the sofa.
It seems much more spacious in here! The floor lamp that was next to the piano moved over to its new home next to Don’s chair.
Don (he has a good eye, that one) felt that the Maxfield Parrish, Dinky Bird, should be moved downstairs to the wall behind the table. He was right. And the canvas of The Lamb With The Party Hat moved upstairs to my office, which is only fitting, as it’s the symbol of this blog.
The Roseville that was on the coffee table moved over to this table. And then I grabbed the old ice cream maker filled with dried hydrangeas from the top of the white cabinet in the kitchen and it all worked.
Stamped on the top left edge of the table.
Be still my heart.
The firkin on the blue table was my grandmother’s.
I moved the plant that lives in the McCoy jardiniere from the den to the center of the coffee table.
This room, more than any other room in the house, is completely transformed by the changes of light during the course of a day. This was taken about an hour ago. I’ll take more photos as the day goes on and share them with you during the week.
The back of the sofa.
Photos were quickly taken yesterday afternoon and this morning. After all, we spent hours reconfiguring this space and, let me tell you, moving furniture around in here is no easy feat. Then Don had to leave for a meeting and it was dark out. I’ll get out my tripod this week and take better photos.
You know how it is? You buy one new thing, which means something else has to go, and suddenly you’re in the midst of a puzzle. One thing moves and everything else has to move.
The yellow chair will go in our storage space.
We like the change a lot. Actually, we love it.
Happy Monday.
that looks wonderful! it is wonderful! so glad you bought that beautiful old table and found a way to make all your favorite pieces fit the new “puzzle”.
hope you can find some information about the words (on the table) online and have a great day enjoying your new arrangement/room!
whenever i do some rearranging, i get little done the rest of the day for going back to look at/enjoy my efforts and whatever new/old treasure i might have bought that required that shuffling around.
kathy in iowa
I feel the same way. I just sat and looked at the space light night and first thing this morning.
What a fantastic find! I love it. Oh, the stories that table could tell. Do you have any idea how old it might be?
Not sure – anywhere from 70 – 100 years old, Carolyn Marie.
I am so in love with that table. It gives new life to your space as does the rearrange! I saw the Parrish print had moved from your Instagram photos and I like it there. I need to do a bit more decluttering and give my space a fresh look. You have inspired me! Hugs,
I wouldn’t have done a thing to rearrange the room had it not been for this table, Linda.
Great find Claudia! Your new/rearranged living space looks simply wonderful.
Thank you so much, Vera. We really love it!
Love it! ☺
monica
Thank you, Monica!
It’s tough when you see something you just have to have but have no idea where you will put it…then the shuffling begins..lol..love the table!
Thank goodness we figured it all out, Nancy!
I google Francois Sermijn table and voila, here is what I found on pinterest,
Antique French Cafe Table beautiful aged wood by Maisondelarue, $645.00
1910 to 1950!
Picture is identical.
Good eye! Congratulations and what I think you scooped for far less.
Yes, I googled the same thing yesterday! (We got it for $100. A steal, really!)
What fun! It’s always great to find that special piece and then figure out where it belongs. It may take a few tries but eventually it all falls into place and in this case, everything looks wonderful and like it’s been that way all along! What a great table, although I’m not sure I could live with a table stamped “Francois”…that’s the first name of the dean I work for and it would feel like work had followed me home! ;-)
It’s like having a whole new space, Martha!
What a beautiful table! Love the color in it. I have a question about your red chair. Is it a rocker? There is something about it that makes my heart pitter-patter.
No, it’s not a rocker, Trina. It’s exactly, except for the wood finish, like a chair my grandparents had. The back can be moved into three positions, like a recliner, though we have it fixed so it won’t move – we had to do that to stabilize it. I got it years ago in San Diego for $50!
That table is gorgeous, Claudia!! Everything looks lovely with lots of natural might streaming in, and cozy!! I love it!!
Thank you so much, Francine!
I love that table! Isn’t it fun to switch the furniture around and find a new arrangement that you love? I hesitate to say, since it’s none of my business and you’re perfectly happy with the current plan, but I see an alternative that you may want to try sometime…or may have already tried and rejected:
Red chair with its back into/across the corner, small table and floor lamp to its left (right as you look at it), under the window, and new table where the red chair was, making it a sort of buffet surface and room divider between the two rooms, but usable in both. With the new table open on three sides, it shows off its lovely legs and open lines of the cantilevered green chair(remaining where it is) lets the French logos shine…bulkier red chair looks less bulky with walls behind it and small table rests nicely under the window sill.
Sorry, I just can’t help myself.
Thanks for your input, but trust me, we’ve worked with this room for 11 years! And when we tried chairs where you’re suggesting they could be placed, it just didn’t work! We’ve been down that road before. No, we really like it where it is. The sunlight is currently streaming onto the table top and it’s simply lovely.
Plus, taking anything bulky out of that niche has added several inches onto the room. You have no idea what a difference that makes after having the loveseat, which is just as deep as the chair, in that niche.
You know your space better than I do, Claudia. It does look wonderful the way you have it.
Thanks, Shanna! The room is very small and it can only be tweaked a few ways! This is the most spacious it has ever felt, so we’re very happy with the new arrangement.
I peeked backwards in your posts to see the living room before your changes to make your beautiful new bistro table a new home. Your new arrangement makes the room appear larger and the sunlight on the wood sings.
Joy
It really does appear larger, Joy! Thank you.
That table is phenomenal…great eye you two! I love that you had to rearrange everything…it looks great! What fun that must have been! What color is that love seat? It looks to be dark blue on my screen. It looks wonderful with the loveseat…and that fringe on the back draping down…so elegant. Enjoy your new space! ;)
The love seat is a very, very dark gray – almost black. It’s a velvety fabric.
Well, it’s stunning….and a great compliment to your new find. The loveseat looks to be brand new! I can’t believe how different your cottage looks with just one new addition…and one removal! ;)
Don’s always like what was ‘underneath’ the slipcover, but I never thought it would work here until now! Thanks so much, Donnamae!
It’s an entirely new space! My Dad used to reconfigure our house layout every few months. I thought he just liked doing it (yes, he likes hauling furniture up and down the narrow hallway with three little kids “helping”….), but my Mom told me recently that he did it so the kids would have the warmer rooms in the winter and cooler rooms in the summer. I never even thought that! Now that I’m getting some furniture from my Uncle’s place (he died over a year ago), I’m fiddling with new furniture placement too.
It’s awfully fun, Wendy. And every time Don and I do something like this, we discover something and fall in love with the cottage all over again!
The table, and the room, are perfectly lovely, Claudia. I love all the light, including the light reflecting off your beautiful old floors.
I have a feeling that it might be Belgian, not French. Does it read “Sint-Amandsberg” ?
That’s in Ghent, in East Flanders. I’ll bet it has a very interesting history. More research is necessary, I think. Can you provide a clear photograph of the manufacturer’s mark? Or a transcript? We might be able to pinpoint its origins to the exact building.
The company is based in Belgium, for sure. The current company specializes in party rentals, so I think they supplied this kind of furniture for cafes and events.
Claudia,
How lovely the arrangement looks. I am intrigued with your firkin. Maybe a quick history? Thanks.
Tracy
All I know is that is was my grandmother’s and she kept sewing supplies in it.
You guys are killing me. I had to look up firkin.
xo
I love how you rearranged the room. I have to admit I covet that new table … it is wonderful. I dream of having wood floors like yours and watching the sun play across them though out the day. Lovely!
We are blessed with these floors, Valerie. We really love them, though the dogs did quite a number on them over the years!
What makes MY heart go pitter patter is that you two bought this so I KNOW that it won’t be sanded and painted with chalk paint to “look chippy”. Your placement of all the furniture makes it look just beautiful. You indeed had a great adventure on a Sunday afternoon!!!!
No! Absolutely not! We love it for the finish on the wood and all the dings and scratches. It’s lovely – AS IS!
Nothing like a little rearrangement to lift the spirits. But seeing that model ship on the floor, I would have that on the new table. I think it would look lovely with the light coming through it. I have rearranged the pictures in my sewing room quite a lot. when the furniture changes you must rearrange the art.
The model ship has gone into storage. It collects a huge amount of dust and is impossible to clean. It was my father’s and I’m keeping it, but it’s a dirt/dust magnet and it would collect even more if it was in front of the window.
Your living room looks fantastic and I love your new purchase. One thing
leads to another but your end result is lovely.
Thank you, Lea! It’s as if it’s an entirely new space.
Love it! Love it! It makes room look larger, shows off the beautiful wood floors, and I love the way the light plays off the furniture. I love the throw on the loveseat! And when you think of what a bargain it was — well, that is just icing on the cake! So happy for you two!
Thank you so much, Dottie! It’s amazing what a pick-me-up this kind of change is!
I also love the table. It looks great where you put it. I think I will rearrange my living room tomorrow. My mom and sister change their rooms all the time, it is their way of cleaning!
Well, it’s sure made me clean like crazy!
This would be my husband…what I get a lot…”If you’ve come to detest the yellow chair, just get rid of it; why put it in storage?” Again, I get this MORE than a lot. Thing is, I can always find a way to repurpose something. I just HATE getting rid of things. Especially ones I’ve taken good care of, which is most of my things; which still have good use and are in good shape. (A big discussion at the moment is the yes/no of reupholstering an antique sofa that belonged to another aunt. I’ve put this ‘job’ on hold for a year because it’s a bee-in-the-bonnet between us! I sat on this sofa when I was a little girl; I love it. I see no point in going out and buying new furniture when I have this supremely well-made one which I like but, you see, my beloved isn’t so enamored with it and wants to buy new/modern.)
My big personal frustration is that I keep winding up with smaller and smaller houses. I know this is ‘the thing to do’ when we get older (‘downsizing’), but I could very happily live in a bigger house as long as I had somebody to clean it for me, which will never happen. I still remember pretty much every significant item I’ve ever had to purge and my husband feels that’s a hoarding tendency but I think it’s a lot more about sentimentality and a need to make a place for something I like and have spent good money on. He says I’m too attached to material objects.
I dunno. He formerly even bought a few antique pieces himself, pre-me (we still have THOSE of course!!!). But lately, he has gotten ultra-minimalist and ‘way mod…which of course doesn’t jive with my aesthetic whatsoever. It takes a lot of compromise but we’ve been together a long time, so the head-butting doesn’t last forever on this sort of thing. He dislikes ANY rugs underfoot anywhere … and absolutely will not tolerate a coffee table at the sofa which I totally miss SO much. Tall, skinny guy who for some reason needs a wide berth…big open spaces inside a house. So, try doing that in a small house…with me.
Anyway, your French table is the bomb; I love it! Perfect there by the window. Lovely warm wood.
Do you have media in the white cabinet? Or do you watch all your TV in the lower-level den? Is the space where you have your garden chair and the new table mostly for listening to music, reading, visiting? If so, you’re lucky; I’d love to have both a living room and family room/den but, alas, I’m in an old SoCalif tract home which blends those spaces. In my former cottage, which actually had more square footage than I have now, we had the separate dining room and I adored it. I’ve gone the opposite of my husband (but I also realize it’s ME who has changed and upset the dynamic): I love designated, walled-off, separate rooms. I don’t know when I changed on that because I, too, formerly needed less walls and more open space. In my dream house of today, I’d have a ‘library’ and also a family room/den, a dining room AND a ‘parlor’ but it will remain a dream and never a reality. So, we work with what we’ve got, right Claudia?
I say this as I remember something I watched Saturday evening from my parked car. An older couple, known to many now in our town. Homeless, except for their beat-up, cumbersome motor home on its last legs. He apparently can’t drive, so she does the driving as they move it from place to place, getting booted out constantly. I guess they can’t afford to be in some sort of trailer park or state park or wherever you go when that’s your precarious living situation. How can I complain about my small house when I’m so lucky to have any house? Maybe this elderly couple once had a home themselves but lost it somehow. I doubt they chose to be homeless. This is what I have to remind the more petulant side of myself. Count my blessings.
PS: Our temps topped out at 108 degrees yesterday and it’s supposed to be hotter today. Again, tell anybody you know who’s thinking of moving to Southern California to forget it. It seems our drought will never end, we’re in for apparently a little-to-no rain year again…and we have these unbelievably hot temps like I’ve never remembered ever in my life here. It was 100 degrees before 10am this morning. And I live on the coast where it should be cooler. We’ve been warned already today of brownouts. If I lose my A/C this afternoon, it won’t be tolerable.
Confession. We ended up putting the chair out at the curb. Someone immediately grabbed it. This happened after Don suggested it, and I made him swear he wouldn’t regret giving up the chair (it was really his chair, he’s the one who used it.) But I feel the same way you do. It’s hard to give some things up that have meaning to me or that I think I can use in some way. When it’s time to buy a new sofa for the den (and believe me, it’s way past time) I will happily give up the old one. I have no sentiment about it whatsoever, except that the length is perfect for two tall people to nap on.
Don loves the open concept of our downstairs. I’m not so crazy about it, but it is what it is. We do get more light in the rooms that way. We don’t have a separate dining room either – just the space for a table and chairs in the kitchen. The white cabinet in the den holds paperwork, lightbulbs, records, stationery, old pay stubs, you name it. We watch television in the den. We don’t even watch the television in our bedroom! We use the living room for reading and talking and listening to music and Don does a lot of his computer work there.
Okay, I can visualize this better; I didn’t really think you were watching TV in the living room space.
Freecycle. The stuff disappears like lightning, doesn’t it. (I’ve heard that some people make it a business and then resell what you’ve put out for free!!)
Clearly, when you have a larger, spacious house, it’s much easier to be streamlined and organized…and arrange focus areas for certain tasks or activities. Because there’s enough room! A small house is sorta like living on a boat where every space has to be well considered and sensibly used…and just ‘normal stuff’ can begin to look like clutter in a nanosecond.
That chair was gone in a less than two hours, Vicki!
I love the new look! I really enjoy moving things around in our home. It seems like a new space without going to the trouble of packing up and moving into another place. Your space looks cozy but roomy at the same time.
Thank you, Janie! We can only do so much in this small space, so when we buy something that we have to find a space for, then we’re off and running! I’m so glad this worked out!
What a great find, just love it. It’s is like a treasure hunt when you stumble across something great! Love how you have everything set up. Such a nice touch to the back of the couch with the beautiful throw, really shows it off !
hugs
nancy
Thank you so much, Nancy!
Beautiful! I love it! It all really works well and that table is amazing, and I love your round coffee table too. A wonderful gathering spot! We have no rugs in our little house now except at the front and back door. I love the look of just the wood floors.
We are really enjoying the wood floors now, Lily. For so many years we had to have rugs for the dogs, especially when they got older and more frail.
Awesome find!!!
Thank you so much, Cindy!
Claudia – I LOVE your new old French table!!! It is gorgeous!
Judy
Thank you, Judy! We’re absolutely over the moon about it!
That is one gorgeous table! I would have bought it too, even though I have no spot for it —- I would create a space for it, like you, because if you love a piece, you will always find a place for it. thanks
Exactly! Thank you, Mary!
Claudia…I love the newly decorated room…Looks so cozy!…Your wood floors always look so clean!…What do you use, to pick up the dust, etc.?!…
The vacuum and Swiffers, Sharon!
The table is a great addition to your home. I love the logo/typography and the beautiful patina. I get rediculously excited over someone finding a treasure like that. I get equally anxious when someone slathers paint on something that is just beautiful “as is”.
Have you ever gone to tag sales? It is wonderful in so many ways. It’s social I usually go with a good friend, we talk, laugh (ooh and ahh at the scenery) as we drive around. It’s a treasure hunt, both in finding items and also in exploring your town and country roads. The money you save. I have renovated two houses and found the high end building materials that I love, at a price that was within my budget. In my mind I picture that the two of you would love it.
I have, though I don’t go to them often. I have friends who do, though, and they love it.
That is exactly the kind of furniture I love too! Every scratch, dent, whatever, tells an untold story of it’s past! If only it could talk. Right? I would take vintage any day over new! My kitchen dining room table is over 50 years old, and my mother bought it when I was 12. I can vividly remember the day she bought it. Just for me! I had been spending several weeks away from home with a paternal Aunt and I came home to find the table and chairs in the kitchen. We had little to none of money in those days, as my father had passed away a year earlier, but my mother knew how much I loved wood furniture and she wanted to surprise me. I will never part from that table, and our oldest daughter has already said dibs on it!
Enjoy your new treasure!! Give it more stories to tell!! :)
Oh, what a lovely story, Laura. That table is priceless!