Early American Attic

Unconventional Tables

Chicken Crate Entry Table

The "Chicken Crate Entry Table" is a great place to stash hats,
gloves and scarves just inside the front door.

Chicken Crate Coffee Table

Machinist Crank / Occasional Table and Steamer Trunk Coffee Table  

The Steamer Trunk was built to withstand the wear and tear of train and steam ship travel in the 1800's.
Go ahead, put your feet up!

 This Machinist Crank Table provides at great space for displaying various collections.

This Machinist Crank Table repurposed as an occasional table provides function by holding a much needed lamp,
 without being visually or physically intrusive.

I am very fortunate to have grown up with amazingly, talented parents and a mother who has always been an out of the box thinker. (My father conformed to the norm more so than my mother.)  In fact, when my mother was brought out of a coma and tested for her mental acuity several years ago, the doctor asked her where she would place a painting. She pointed to the ceiling. We told the doctor, that in all fairness he should rephrase the question, because she may very likely place a painting on the ceiling.  She had after all, been looking at the ceiling for weeks.

My mother is responsible for purchasing two of these “unconventional tables”.  She bought the chicken crate and steamer trunk when I was a kid.  They have been in our family for decades.  She screwed casters to the bottom of the chicken crate and had plate glass cut for the top.  I used it as a coffee table in front of my trundle bed, in its first go around sometime in the late 1970’s.  I used it in our family room in the 1990’s without the plate glass top, again as a coffee table.  Now it stands on its side, elevated on a simple 2”x 2” wood framed base, in our entryway.  Using it horizontally comes off too country for what I was trying to achieve.  Placing it on the simple wood base, on its side, makes it quirkier and gives this hallway a bohemian vibe.  We store our hats, gloves and scarves in it during the snowy winter months.  We throw them inside through the hatch door, even when they are still wet with snow.  It keeps the entry clear of gear and I don’t have to lay them out flat to dry.  The crate provides enough ventilation to allow them to dry without getting musty.  

My mother’s vision for the steamer trunk never saw the light of day till now.  Literally, it spent decades pushed into the eaves of my parent’s attic.  The story goes that she bought it for me to use as a dress up trunk. But, by the time we moved into the house my parents were renovating at the time she bought it, I was too old to be playing dress up.  Plus, my bedroom wasn’t large enough to accommodate it.  The trunk was taken to the attic, like so many other items have over the years.  We rarely part with treasurers.  This trait has worked to my favor numerous times and when it came time to find a coffee table for this bohemian pad, I looked no further than my parent’s attic.  I cleaned the trunk up with Murphy’s Oil Soap and plopped it in the middle of the room. Voila!  Kick up your feet and enjoy a little “Early American Attic” décor.

  

However, the pièce de résistance for this room didn’t arrive until I found the small machinist table.  

I didn’t find it at my parent’s house.  I found it at an antique mall.  (They look similar and smell the same, but the items in my parent’s attic don’t have price tags.)  I’ve come across industrial pieces over the years but never any this small. This table is perfectly sized to hold the orange table lamp and a myriad of rotating collections, without being intrusive.  It is versatile too. It has a foot petal at the back to adjust the height.  This gives me the ability to utilize it as a bar during holiday parties.