In a sea of midcentury modern reproductions, it stands out When I moved to my current apartment, I came with enough stuff to fill up my Subaru hatchback to its capacity. I left a lot behind in Virginia: two bookshelves, a six-month-old mattress, even a foldable drying rack that obscured the rear windshield just enough to make me nervous about driving the five hours to New York. I also left my nightstand, a functional gray-black number with three drawers that came straight from Target.
I moved into a room in Brooklyn that became available when one of my best friends moved out. She had met a guy on the subway and now they were in love, so she decided to cohabitate, leaving an opening for me.
She also left her furniture: a gray couch overstuffed enough to sleep on; a hexagonal coffee table with a glass top and claw feet; and an end table with a white marble top, black wooden legs, and black metal fretwork around its oval edge. It?s this last item that appeals to me the most. For whatever reason, it strikes me as adult, but the design of the fretwork, with alternating upside-down and right-side-up hearts, is downright charming.
So charming, in fact, that I immediately relocated it beside my bed, where it holds a small lamp and nothing else. Unlike nightstands of my past, it usually stays clear; it?s too pretty to muck up with stacks of magazines or half-empty water glasses. At night, I slip my book into the top drawer of the dresser instead.
So where did it come from&...