| The first real furniture I bought was a set of living room | | | | coffee table we chose was painted wicker. Its soft |
| tables. They were polished rosewood, with a sleek | | | | edge was a better choice for a family with toddlers |
| contemporary line and black-stained legs. I thought it | | | | actively cruising the edges of the furniture. |
| was unusual that the two end tables were not | | | | The rosewood table maintained a place of honor in the |
| identical-they were about the same size, but one was | | | | formal living room, right inside the front door. Anybody |
| square, the other was rectangle. | | | | who rang the doorbell and stepped inside got a good |
| But the square coffee table is what sold me on the | | | | look at the table that remained my favorite. |
| set. It was big-big enough to sit on the floor and eat | | | | Another move meant a new living room to outfit. This |
| meals at, which was good, since I didn't have a kitchen | | | | time we moved to smaller home-a Victorian house we |
| or dining room set to call my own. The rich red of the | | | | lovingly restored in an elegant beachside neighborhood. |
| rosewood was highlighted by an-almost black grain | | | | This house, however, had a small, awkward living |
| that made it the prettiest piece of furniture I had ever | | | | room, and even though we tried to live as a modern |
| bought. | | | | family in this treasure, our modern furniture did not fit |
| The square coffee table became the center of my | | | | well in its small rooms. We squeezed my rosewood |
| living space for the next couple of years. I sat a | | | | end tables into the front room, but there was no way |
| handful of guests around it on the floor for the first | | | | the coffee table could find a home there. |
| birthday dinner I made for my new husband-we were | | | | Rather than have it block the passageway through the |
| young, and nobody minded the improvised seating. The | | | | living room, I moved my favorite piece of furniture into |
| living room had very little furniture other than an | | | | the playroom for my daughters to use for their |
| outlet-store sofa and the rosewood tables. I was able | | | | dollhouses, their building block constructions, and even |
| to center the square coffee table in front of the | | | | their modeling clay. The square coffee table I once |
| fireplace in the restored Colonial where we lived | | | | babied was now the workhorse of the preschool set. |
| outside Boston, and it looked like it was made for the | | | | New homes and new neighborhoods mean new |
| room. | | | | furniture. My square coffee table held up well, but it |
| A move to Florida meant a new house, and its huge | | | | didn't make its way into my new house. I was happy |
| family room needed a big sectional sofa to | | | | to hand it off to a close family friend who was |
| accommodate our family and friends. With that | | | | outfitting his first real home. I didn't make it over to his |
| L-shaped sofa, the square coffee table dropped right | | | | place often, but I was invited to his birthday party given |
| into place. It maintained its rightful place as the | | | | by his new wife. I walked into their living room for the |
| cornerstone of our entertainment space. | | | | first time, and got a warm, fuzzy feeling. My rosewood |
| After a few years, we sold the home in Florida and | | | | coffee table sat in the middle of their living room, |
| moved to Austin, Texas. With that move, we needed | | | | holding center stage just as it first did in my home |
| a second set of living room furniture. We bought new | | | | twenty years earlier. |
| things for the family room, and this time, the square | | | | |