quest for a table

[snugglekitty]

So, when last we left our intrepid Perverted Home Decorator, she had the bedframe of her dreams, and had re-organized her room to make it fit.

The past week or two, I have been looking for a table to put next to my bed. I had completely forgotten that in my last homemaking post I had decided that bedside shelves would be best. I still think that either would work. Shelves are... well... shelves. Relatively easy to acquire, a little more difficult to install, a little harder to take with us when we leave this house, certainly harder to reach from bed, and probably won't offer as much space, given where they would go. A table, on the other hand? The idea has started to assume almost mythic qualities.



In this, I am limited by the aesthetics and space in my room. The aesthetics issue I plan to mainly handle by repainting whatever table I get, unless it happens to already be white, wicker in good condition, or metal. But the space. Oh, the space.

1) The full dimensions of the available space, as constrained by walls and bed, are 14" X 34". Practically speaking, the table needs to be under 12" deep or I won't be able to reach under it and it will be touching both the wall and the bed.
2) If the table is large (longer than ten inches, say) it has to be able to fit my wastebins (one for trash, one for recycling) underneath it - there is NOWHERE else to put them except next to my altar, and that symbolism is something I would do much to avoid. "Fitting my wastebins" means it has to have space for two ten-inch cube things underneath (or inside it, I suppose). I think waste receptacles smaller than that might be a little weird.
3) If the table is small (shorter than ten inches) then the waste receptacles can go on the side of it, as they do now with the little plantstand thing next to my bed. BUT in that case the table must have two shelves or there will not be enough space for alla my crap. (A list of things that go on my bedside table is appended, in case anyone is that interested, although that seems unlikely.)
4) I don't want it to have drawers, though. On the short side, I think one would be weird, and difficult to reach from my bed. On the long side, I wouldn't be able to open it. Swivel stands are similarly impractical, and also very 70s.
5) While, in general, spraypainting a table white or silver would do a lot to make it match the aesthetics of my room, this will not work in all cases. Now that everything in my room basically goes with everything else, I want new things to also go with everything else. I just kinda need to see it. For example, stuff that's international in aesthetic doesn't seem to go with my look. On the other hand, something in carved wood where the wood wasn't so nice it would be a sin to paint over would go really well. Or something with metal legs, and maybe a glass or marble top, although that sort seems to be prohibitively expensive.

So, right, those are my requirements. Ish.

So first I trashpicked a little wicker table thing. It would have been fine for the spot aesthetically, with some work (dirty! needs repair! needs paint!) but FIDN'T DIT. Next I tried Goodwill, this time armed with a trusty tape measure. There was a table that would've worked, but FIDN'T DIT! At least that time, I found out before I took it home. Today I asked mrpet to escort me while I perused some used furniture emporiums in the metro Boston area. We stopped at Boomerang's, which had one coffee table I liked that was too big and one TV stand sort of thing that would have fit, but also needed a lot of work.
At Cheap Chic, I found the first thing that I really liked and wanted. It was a curvy half-moon style table with tapered legs. mrpet forbid me to buy it, however, on the grounds that it was falling apart. (Which, in all fairness, it was. But it was so pretty, and only $10! And it was the only one that spoke to me out of the four places we went to.) After a heated discussion, we compromised on him drawing a picture of the table on some scrap paper, since neither of us has a cameraphone, with the possibility of him just making it, if we can't find a similar one that's more sturdy. We then tried College Furniture, because it was just across the street. Nothing - better prices and construction are available from your local Ikea. Then we went home.



For the future, I'm planning to also try:

- Goodwill, again (although the one in Davis Square doesn't seem to have much furniture)
- That sleazy little store by Porter Square where I got my chair
- The Greenhouse, if I can catch it when it's open
- The furniture place on the river side of Central Square, which I believe is only open on Saturdays (and which I don't have a name for)
- The Bookcase Factory Outlet on Oxford
- That little antique/vintage place on Highland Ave by the laundromat

And, of course, your suggestions...?



Addendum: things that I like to put on my bedside table, when I have one:

- things that secure hair
- eyeglasses of my sweeties
- glasses of water
- clock
- box of Kleenex
- NFP chart
- retainer
- lube
- face moisturizer
- lotion
- books

So I need room. And it needs to be slightly weightbearing, too. One of the reasons a (non-rickety) table seems like a good idea. Sigh.