The Toe-Crusher

About twelve years ago I gave my fabulous Finish friend Nina $50 for two old coffee tables when she moved back to Europe. One was modern and sleek and way to big for my tiny Brooklyn apartment so I off-loaded it to an old boyfriend. The other was rococo and girly and just the right size and it stayed. Oh, how I loved it, despite a few chips in the thick glass top, despite discolorations to the wood base. Over the years I thought I might get a new glass top and silver leaf the base. But the glass was outrageously expensive and I never quite got around to the silver leafing. Last year I moved in with the wonderful Mr. B and since he had a perfectly serviceable coffee table, I decided to give my rococo baby to my mom. I very gingerly removed the glass top, wrapped it in blankets, placed the whole shebang in the back seat of my Honda and drove it out to her house. I brought it inside and started to re-assemble. Everything was working out just fine. Then my innate clumsiness took over and I dropped the very heavy, very thick glass top smack onto the base at an angle perfectly engineered to send glass all over mom's living room carpet. As they say in gay Paree, c'est la vie.

After cleaning up the glass and the blood (oh, there was blood alright) and the tears, I said to mom maybe if I flipped the base on it's head, I could turn it into an ottoman for her. So back in my car it went and out to my new place and into the office where it has sat for one whole year. Since which time mom left this world for her eternal reward and Mr. B stubbed his toe about 10 times against my sad broken little table.

Fast forward to this past week when I decided it was high time to actually do something about this table/ottoman/toe wrecker. So I went to the craft store and bought foam and batting and glue. And Mr. B, who does event production and large scenic builds, brought me a remnant of off-white twill with a black velvet Moroccan motif that my friend Stella immediately described as "so you!" Now that I have all the ingredients, it's time to get cooking!

Sadly, this is as good a picture I seem to have of the table. Please note my friend Roz's leg, wine and American Spirits.

Normal Coffee Table Style:

You can't see the bottom but you get an idea of how thick the glass was and it's shape (which was essentially rectangular, but the corners were cut on the diagonal). The pedestals holding up the glass were metal and easily removable, allowing the table when flipped over to sit flush on the floor without having to break out a saw! Of course the curly legs that I love are what stick out a smidge (just a smidge) and allow Mr. B to walk into it on occasion.

Toe Crusher Style:

Keep in mind as a table that base was the bottom and the glass top was wider than those curly legs. But you can see the potential, right? Right?


Here's the fabulous fabric from my honey:

Such a score there.

So this is what we're starting with. Hopefully, what we end with is a beautiful place to put up our feet. Particularly Mr. B's since he will be needing to rest those toes.