Not Perfect, But Okay

 It's been a year since Hubby Tony and I had new seating delivered for the living room and I started the search for side tables to go with it.  I soon found Mission-style square and rectangular tables, but the right coffee table eluded me.

The two love seats were placed at ninety degree angles to each other, and when the foot rests are pushed up there isn't a lot of room in the area between them. Tony and I did some measuring, and figured that a table between 34 and 36 inches long would fit well, and a height of 16 inches would make it easy to lean over to set a drink on the table and easy for Jackson the Cat's arthritic legs to jump up on.  

 

Of course a style that matched the decor would be preferable, but I was willing to settle for something that met the size requirements while I kept looking for something better. I searched Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, furniture stores, thrift stores, and antique malls off and on. Nothing. 

On Tuesday the weather was more like mid-April than mid-January. Tony and I ended up just across the Missouri River in downtown St. Charles. We walked west for a short while on the Katy Trail, then turned and headed back east on the street towards the car. 

Front and back

The area has multiple antique malls. When we popped into the first one we walked past I saw what was tagged as a 'cabinet on wheels'. The black cabinet did not have a back (but would be good for storage), was obviously homemade, and attached to a piece of white-painted wood, but the shape and size was right. I know from past experience that anything can be repainted if necessary.

The cabinet had a price tag of $15. I thought that was a fair price, but at antique stores you never purchase without at least asking about a discount. When I asked the clerk if the price was firm, she pointed out that booth was selling all their merchandise for 50 percent off. Holy cow! For $7.50 the cabinet could be ours.

I had left my purse back in the car, so Tony paid for the table and told the clerk we would be back for it in a bit. We continued our walk back to the car, stopping for a cup of coffee along the way.

We picked up the car and backtracked to the antique mall. The cabinet was more awkward to carry then heavy. It fit easily into the back of Tony's car. When we got home Tony carried the cabinet upstairs and set it in the laundry room so I could give it a good cleaning. After it dried off I moved it to the living room. The cabinet fit perfectly in the space it needed to. Later that night it also got the Jackson seal of approval.

The cabinet is good enough for now, but I will continue looking for something better.