Four years ago we moved in our our 1927 home and I dove head first into the world of shabby chic. I bought anything I could find that was worn, dingy, scrappy, rusty and of course shabby. I remember looking at our fancy mahogany 1940's dining set and realizing that it would look awful in our new home. I sold it on Craigslist for $1200 and turned around and bought this table at a yard sale.
The children could spill to their hearts delight with this stained and blemished table without worry. If guest were coming I could throw a tablecloth on it and hid away the ugliness of it. The chairs were purchased 2nd hand and together it pretty much fit into my shabby chic style.
Then I found my teak & orange leather sofa and it changed my entire home style. I slowly pulled most of the shabby chic decor and packed it away in boxes for my next yard sale. Since we found the sofa I had been looking for a better dining room table. Usually the best ones were in Seattle and I wasn't able to get a ferry across or the dining tables were too expensive. Tuesday evening, I did a search for "Teak" and our general area I came across this Danish table.
The photo on CL made it hard to see the table clearly. I emailed the seller asking questions about the age, whether it was stained and where it was purchased. She wrote back quickly and gave me the details. It is from 1993, was purchased in Hawaii from a Scandinavian type furniture store and it had a few water stains. I asked to look at it on Wednesday and we arranged a time to meet.
It took me mere seconds to realize how beautifully handcrafted this table was. It did have a few water stains but that didn't worry me since I knew how to remove them. I fell in love with the softness of the wood, the design of the chairs and the fact that it expands to a very long table. I didn't like the upholstery at all but the seller told me that she had already changed it a few times and that it was quite simple to do.
Anyone want to guess the price that I paid for the table? The closest in price (no facebook friend guesses since I mentioned the price there :-) will get a little something in the mail from me.
As my taste are evolving into Mid Century Modern, I also realize that this look is very fitting into the architecture and style of Waldorf. I picked up this book recently at a used book store and discovered a few artist that use techniques very similar to Waldorf. Arthur Espenet Carpenter led me to Wharton Esherick whose style I was immediately drawn to. The photos on his site do not do him justice. I adore these kitchen cabinets and now want to replicate this in my next home. And I adore this bookshelf. Because his work reminded me so much of Waldorf I did a google search for his name and Rudolf Steiner and there is actually a connection on his wiki page.
My arms were covered in goosebumps at this point. This style just hits my soul with so much emotion. I don't know what it is or why, but it has that "coming home" feel to it. I felt something similar when I discovered Waldorf education for the first time.
My goal in our next home is to create a sort of Mid Century Waldorf style. They seem to go hand in hand. I'm picturing Lazured walls, lots of mid century modern furniture, waldorf watercolor paintings mixed in with 60's art, lots of natural fibers such as wool & silk and of course a general feeling of warmth. This style represents my heart and soul and I want to display this in our home. While my scanner personality immediately wanted me to become a woodworker and buy a band saw and all the woodworking tools, my realistic side said to start small. Yesterday I bought a few already existing wood items that I hope to mid century waldorf them.
Here is a link to some buildings Steiner designed and built. I'm really looking forward to our next home even if we just have a very small one. We wish to buy land that we can grow our own food on and raise chickens. This is our priority and next will be the home. My ideal home is something from the 70's with arched ceilings made of wood. I think this MCW style will fit perfectly into a house like this. But even if we find a home the size of a large shed, we'll still make it beautiful and create a loving home.












