When I was considering adding the tulip table to my foyer I wanted to have a little spot to corral the mail, my keys and other things when I come in the door. I knew a small tray would be ideal for that purpose, so I set out to find one that met my criteria – it needed to be rectangular, not too expensive, and it needed to have some colour given the table and the walls in my foyer are white.

To be honest I had absolutely no plans on DIYing anything, and I actually did find a lovely contender for the spot at HomeSense that was just $13. Then of course I went to the thrift store and found a tray for $1.99 and my plans changed.  Given its thrift store provenance the tray was predictably ugly, but it was the right size and shape and I knew that making it prettier would be easy. 

A few weeks ago Staples Canada emailed me and asked if I would like to give one of their accent furniture pieces a try. Honestly my first thought after reading the email was ‘Staples has furniture?? – I thought they just had paper and pens’. Out of curiosity I clicked over to the Staples Canada site to see what they had and was rather  surprised by the selection.

I’m not sure what I was expecting, but there are a number of items that I could have happily welcomed to my home. If I didn’t already have dining chairs I love I would have been tempted by these Panton chair knock offs and these round nesting tables caught my eye as well.

I’ve been in LOVE with Saarinen tulip tables for what seems like ever (if I won the lottery one of the first things I’d buy would be a marble tulip dining table), so I might have let out a little squeal when I spotted a tulip table among the accent tables on the Staples website. I had no idea where it would go, but knew I’d be able to find a spot for it.

When the table arrived I was pleasantly surprised by how weighty it is. I don’t know why, but I had thought it might feel a bit flimsy - the base is made of fiberglass and the top is wood so I don’t have any worries about it moving or tipping over. Once I got it put together (a super easy 2-minute job) I decided it would be perfect in my foyer as a place to put the mail and my keys when I walk in the door (but only after first considering it as a bedside table, or even a a little bar area in my living room).

I have the rather bad habit of just putting stuff on the floor when I get home, and then not doing anything with it until the next day when I drop a bit more stuff to the growing pile. My hope is that as a table has a much smaller surface area than the floor I’ll be forced to be a bit more organized (Please keep all your fingers crossed for me that this works).

Anyone who likes thrifting knows that you really can’t go looking for anything specific as you’ll never find it – you need to be ready to spot the possibilities in anything – from how you can completely makeover an item, or simply what it means to you and the memories it invokes.

My dad is from Winnipeg, and growing up in Toronto I didn’t get to see that side of my family very frequently – maybe once or twice a year (Don’t get me wrong – I know I was super lucky to get to see them as often as I did – I know there are plenty of families who live apart who don’t have the same opportunity). When we visited Winnipeg when I was quite young we always used to stay at my Gran’s house which was also my dad’s childhood home. My dad’s room was the way it was when he left from university so I remember it being a bit like being in ‘Back to the Future’ (I could be wrong, but I seem to remember there being cowboy wallpaper in my dad’s room).  My Gran’s been gone for a number of years now, but every so often I’ll see something that reminds me of her – certain upholstery fabrics make me think of her white sofa, and Royal Crown Derby china in the Imari pattern makes me think of her corner hutch and the china she kept on display there.

One thing I spot quite frequently while thrifting is Blue Mountain pottery. I remember my Gran having a number of pieces, and while I always think of her when I spot the distinctive blue-green pottery, I've never bought a piece since I’ve only ever seen it in figurines of cats and ducks which are not my thing. A couple of months ago I spotted this little pot for $2 and while it’s not Blue Mountain Pottery it’s colour made me think of Gran so I brought it home.

A green flower pot and an African Violet may not mean much to most people, but to me they are a perfect pair just for the small things they make me remember.