Hello, my name is Justine, and I have an addiction to used furniture.  I’ve lamented before how hard it is for me when I find something aMAZing for sale, and have to pass it over because we don’t need it, or it wouldn’t work in our space (exhibit a: this chesterfield).

 So when I saw this brass and glass coffee table on UsedRegina, AND saw its huge potential (stay with me here, peeps), but also knew that it would be THE worst coffee table for my family (small condo with two kids under 2 years) I was a bit dismayed once again.  Until I went on Facebook and asked if anyone wanted me to provide them with a free coffee table.  Lucky for me a great friend was more than happy to trust me that I could transform this 80’s relic.

You see, this table looks like it should be sitting atop pink cut pile carpet, beside a teal and burgundy floral couch with a stale bowl of potpourri, right?  But to me, I saw that it could become something a little more like this:

Design by Darryl Carter

It’s a style of coffee table I’ve seen everywhere in design magazines.  And it’s in tons of great (higher end) furniture stores:

(1-Jayson Home $1595, 2-Joss & Main (sale ended), 3-Lucca & Co. $19,800, 4-Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams $996, 5-West Elm $365)

(Restoration Hardware, $1015)

Not the least of which, is Restoration Hardware (a store I find equally lovely and bizarre.  Seriously, go read the write up for this coffee table.  More on that tomorrow…)

And it’s no wonder it’s so popular - it has a modern shape, with rustic materials and could go with almost any style of living room.

There are a variety of looks, but the recipe is essentially the same:

A square metallic frame with rustic-looking wood on top.  (The higher end stores seem to be selling wood that’s reclaimed/antique/sourced from the forests of Narnia.)

I could do that!  

Done!  Easy peasy, right?  Well, I’ll show you more tomorrow…