This post about hand-me-down furniture is one of the most popular posts I've ever published and I didn't even write it myself. It fits in with my snobbish notions of interior design having once read that the aristocracy don't buy furniture, they inherit it.
Today marks the end of an era as I sold my dining room table after 20 years. It wasn't a new table when I acquired it. It came from my friends N and T when they upgraded. Her mother bought it for them in a Harrods sale when they got married 41 years ago and it came with them when they moved to Jerusalem.
I always got a kick out of the fact that the table came from Harrods. I usually buy a pencil in Harrods just to get the bag. However, the truth is that it fit better in my old apartment which had a wider and longer dining area. This apartment really needs a different shape table. With the arrival of Ikea in Israel, a new table has been on my wish list for a couple of years now. Can you call it upgrading from Harrods to Ikea? I think you can.
The table has gone to a young couple of newlyweds who are looking forward to entertaining family and friends on shabbat and festivals. I hope they enjoy 20 years of great meals and wonderful company around the table just as N & T did , and then I did. And then they can pass it on.
Meanwhile I haven't actually got the money to buy the new table yet so I'm using this vintage Ikea kitchen table that I was given by friends when they moved to a smaller apartment in Jerusalem. It also came with them from England where it had been the table in their morning room in Liverpool since some time in the 1990s. The first Ikea shop in the UK opened in Warrington in 1987. They tell me that the table was bought from Ikea in Warrington a few years later.
I'm in no hurry to purchase a new table. I'm enjoying the space and the lighter atmosphere of the white table. Did I tell you that I'm a bit obsessed with the Tiny House movement and Minimalism? I watch TEDx talks about less being more and I'm fascinated by people who can fit everything they own into two boxes. Whilst I still want a separate living room and a bedroom for each of us (no climbing up ladders to a loft space) and a fully plumbed shower room and toilet is essential, I find myself looking around to see what else I can sell or give away.
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| Harrods, London 1974 |
I always got a kick out of the fact that the table came from Harrods. I usually buy a pencil in Harrods just to get the bag. However, the truth is that it fit better in my old apartment which had a wider and longer dining area. This apartment really needs a different shape table. With the arrival of Ikea in Israel, a new table has been on my wish list for a couple of years now. Can you call it upgrading from Harrods to Ikea? I think you can.
The table has gone to a young couple of newlyweds who are looking forward to entertaining family and friends on shabbat and festivals. I hope they enjoy 20 years of great meals and wonderful company around the table just as N & T did , and then I did. And then they can pass it on.
Meanwhile I haven't actually got the money to buy the new table yet so I'm using this vintage Ikea kitchen table that I was given by friends when they moved to a smaller apartment in Jerusalem. It also came with them from England where it had been the table in their morning room in Liverpool since some time in the 1990s. The first Ikea shop in the UK opened in Warrington in 1987. They tell me that the table was bought from Ikea in Warrington a few years later.
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| Vintage Ikea, Warrington 1990s |
From Margie in Toronto - Glad to see you back - hope you and your daughter have been having a lovely summer.
ReplyDeleteI too am obsessed by the Tiny House movement but I honestly think that 350 feet would be my minimum. I live in a 560 sq. foot, 1 bedroom apt. and that seems to be about right for now - although I have lived comfortably in smaller places. Definitely couldn't climb any ladders to lofts these days! :-)
My friends like to tease me that IKEA is my home away from home - I'm always fascinated with their design and how creative they get with space!
I firmly believe in passing along furniture and being creative with what has been passed along to me. Enjoy your new table!
Hi Margie, those sq ft measurements on all the American videos drive me mad. I keep having to go and convert. We live in about 970 sq ft (90sqm) but we have an extra bedroom we don't really need. I think in the end it's the layout that makes all the difference rather than just the meterage (or footage). I'd like to take some space out of one bedroom for an en suite and another 7 sqm from another bedroom to widen the living room, and another 4 sqm from a bedroom to add to the balcony. Obviously none of this is possible.
DeleteFrom Margie in Toronto - and I've had to learn about square meters from watching all the British shows! :-) Canadians are kind of caught in the middle - we used feet, pounds, miles etc. for about the first third of my life and then we started to go metric. Temps are now ok - I don't drive so don't have to worry about kilometres/hour - have a fair grasp of grams and kilos but still have trouble visualizing cm and square meters - I still convert mentally. For instance 70 sq m would be about 750 square feet - multiply by 10 and add about 40 or 50. You obviously do the opposite. :-)
DeleteLayout is so important and I have a good one - and I'm lucky to have good closet space which also makes a huge difference in a small space. I wouldn't mind moving to a smaller space but the only motive to leave this location would be a significant reduction in rent - and frankly my rent is very good for the size and the location so I can't see moving any time in the near future.
Since you can't actually renovate , do you have any plans to make changes that might be doable?
Loads of plans, no money.
DeleteI think you know that I am a little bit obsessed with IKEA in every way! But living in a big house has made me yearn for a small space, perfectly designed (perhaps by IKEA) with a place for everything and absolutely no clutter. But it would need to have a view and a balcony and a sense of space outside so I don't feel claustrophobic: I have a horror of those city apartments where your window is just a few feet away from one on the next block. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you 100%. A perfectly designed small (not tiny) house with a view and a garden or balcony. I'd love to throw out all my furniture and start again all from Ikea.
DeleteI'm loving the hand-me-down aspect of this. No good furniture going to waste and being passed on from family to family. The stories that must be etched on the surfaces!! xx
ReplyDeleteI love it too. I was a bit sad to realize that I wouldn't know the future story of the table: where it will go, who it will serve.
DeleteI love passing down furniture or inheriting it. It's nice that it has a history, and it's so much better than just wasting it and chucking it into landfill isn't it?
ReplyDeleteDefinitely. I hate wasting anything whether it be clothes, books, toys... I always try to find a good home rather than chucking anything.
DeleteI've not heard of those TEDx talks but I will check them out as I love TED talks in general and yes I'm in a phase of life where I want less. I hope your summer has been a good one. Mich x
ReplyDeleteNow I'm wondering what the difference between TED and TEDx is.
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