Why is it so fucking hard to find a small dining table that gets big? This is what both my partner and I have been saying for more than three years now while searching for an apartment sized table that expands to fit eight people and shrinks to seat four. We were convinced after two years that this table just did not exist affordably and beautifully. We searched all the retail staples both online and offline and finally came to the conclusion that we must be the only people in all of America who need a smallish table under 48″ wide that grows up to 65″ or 70″ wide for occasional dinner parties. This realization annoyed me but I accepted it and let it go. My partner Vinny, however, did not. Once we decided to move and found a place, he reignited our quest to find the perfect small to big, mid-century or mid-century style dining table. Once again, we were shooting blanks. We did find some vintage tables that worked but they were um, very expensive to say the least. The closest we got was the round expandable Ventura table at Room & Board but honestly for the price, it wasn’t an exact match for us.

One night while I was feverishly unpacking and Vinny was feverishly online searching for furniture, he found himself back on Etsy, a place we’d been before with no luck. He said “Um Clif, I think I might have found something” I didn’t break stride as I’ve been disappointed before. He brought his computer to me and said “what do you think of this table?”. I took a look at this beautiful teak table with tapered legs and said “wow, it’s gorgeous but how small is it and how big does it get?” To my surprise it started pretty small and expanded pretty big. Not wanting to get too excited I asked for the price to which he responded “$650 and free shipping to New York”. I nearly fainted into a box of flatware. What was even better is that the table was an hour and a half upstate in Gardiner, New York and we could schedule an appointment to see it. I never said “book it” so confidently in my life. 

The day of our appointment we took a leisurely Sunday drive through the Hudson Valley to get to Gardiner. We arrived onto the most beautiful piece of property with a winding drive leading up to a barn style garage with open doors revealing an impressive collection of beautiful Danish modern furniture. If this is your style, this is your heaven. The window into the space above the garage revealed two Louis Poulsen PH5 pendant lamps hanging from the ceiling letting me know that we were in the right place. We were greeted by the owner Steve and his partner who was busy oiling a dresser and he showed us to the table which was assembled and displayed on a rug. I don’t know if it was the table or the environment but I was smitten. It was an imported Danish modern extendable dining table with two leafs on either end. The table was made in the 60’s and had slight imperfections that factored into the lower price. I loved everything about this table from the teak wood, to the gently tapered round legs to the simple operation of the expansion, sold! After agreeing on the table, we had a brief stroll around their inventory, absolutely lusting over the Danish modern dressers, desks, chairs, nightstands, wardrobes, everything! We left there feeling like the luckiest and most clever people having found these guys. It was a Sunday and they agreed to deliver to us in New York for free on Tuesday morning. Tuesday morning came and 10:15am they were at our door, table in tow and 15 minutes later, they were gone, perfection!

We’re in love with our table and cannot stop looking at it and caressing it when we walk by. We love knowing it’s old, it’s Danish, it’s imperfect and it’s ours. If you’re in New York, make an appointment and take the ride, they’re not that far out, geographically that is. If you love Danish Modern furniture from the mid-century, you need to know about Far Out Finds, period.