The table Jack built

For years now, my husband, daughter, son, and daughter-in-law have all rolled their eyes at my insistence at holding on to certain pieces of furniture or books or crockery or miscellaneous memorabilia that I have refused too part with.

In general none of these things are heirloom quality, and if my daughter or son asks for something I’m not using, I’m happy to pass along said table, chair or whatever. However, sometimes I do so with the caveat that they may not get rid of it without asking me first if I would like it back.

This starts with a magazine

If you follow me on Instagram, or follow the fringes of the design world anywhere on IG or in blog-land, you may recall the collective swoon over Milieu magazine’s fall issue featuring a handful of homes belonging to interior design movers and shakers including Carole Glasser and Jackye Lanham. It was a collection of beautifully thought-out but livable, approachable rooms. Places you could imagine sitting in with a book and/or a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the images continue to pop up up on IG and the web. This one, in particular, rang a little bell in my brain:

The cross buck coffee table and the white sofas in Jackie Lanham’s Kiawah Island living room looked more than a little familiar, probably because I have a very similar crossbuck table (in front of a white Ikea sofa and already “staged” with a plant and some books!) in our loft. Take a look:

My dad made this table 60-odd years ago to hold our black and white TV. I’m sure it’s from a pattern he cut from a woodworking magazine or maybe the Sunday paper. And I’m also certain its construction pre-dated any power tools. (The TV on it was in a wood cabinet, which he sanded down and painted green. And you wonder where I got my decorating chops?)

It eventually morphed into a coffee table at my house. We put our feet on it, ate pizzas at it, played games around it, and still it soldiered on. It has been at my son’s house for several years, most recently in a corner of the basement. I confiscated it when we moved here and gave it new life in our loft. The table is still rock solid and the finish is original, a little dinged up, but after all this time I just can’t bring myself to do anything to it.

Thanks, Dad.

And thank you for stopping by. I’ll be back soon.