My Latest MCM Furniture Purchase

For nearly two years the answer has been no!

At an antique vendor booth shop in my hometown, there has been a vintage hairpin leg table with a Formica top with a starburst design that I have had my eye on. But it is labeled “Not For Sale” and even when I asked the staff, I have been told no, it is not for sale!

I thought the answer would always be a no for me to acquire such a table. Then, after a spur of the moment trip to a local vintage shop, I am now the owner of a vintage, Formica topped, mid century hairpin leg table!

Each time I go home to visit family and get a chance to go to the antique shop, I always look in that booth and that table is still there. Covered up with other vintage mid century items like dishes and glassware and still not available for sale.

I still look at it every time though. Just because I like the style and the quirkiness of the little table.

But I think I like the one I actually purchased a little bit more.

Right after Thanksgiving, I showed my husband a Facebook photo from our local favorite mid century furniture shop of two bedside tables.

And of course I mentioned that I would like to get something like those for our master bedroom. One day. Someday in the future of course.

That next Sunday, he told me to get in the car because we were going to get my Christmas present. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going or what we were getting.

It didn’t take me long to figure out where we were going. From previous experience, I told him that I doubted the side tables would still be there.

Unfortunately, I was right and the two mid century bedside tables were gone. I told him that I wasn’t ready to do a full makeover of our master bedroom yet and those tables would have just gotten me sidetracked from the projects I needed to be working on anyway.

So instead, I mentioned that we should stop at a new vintage store I had seen down the road just to browse since we were out there anyway.

The vintage store was nice, even though it was mostly filled with vendor booths with lots of vintage 1970s clothing and toys. The shop was also filled with college students who obviously thought these things were trendy and fun. I guess if they had actually grown up in the 1970s they wouldn’t think so.

I wasn’t even looking for a coffee table or any specific item in the store. Browsing vintage thrift stores is just fun to me even if I don’t find anything.

And then I spotted it.

Under a pile of clutter haphazardly balanced on top of the metal table, I saw a small post-it size spot of the table top and boomerangs. Yes boomerangs!

The Formica tabletop with a boomerang pattern was made popular in the 1950s.

This table had been shoved in a neglected corner of a vendor booth, piled high with cluttered items that I don’t even remember what they were, that I had to move out of the way to get a closer look.

Beneath those random items sat a Formica topped boomerang patterned metal coffee table with hairpin legs!

I finally was able to purchase a similar vintage coffee table like the one I had been told I couldn’t have. Something that I have been hoping to find one day but never expected to.

Now my Mid Century Inspired Sunroom has just gotten a little bit cooler looking.