A couple of days ago, I was thinking that if I didn’t find the table and chairs I was looking for I would consider getting a Malaysian kopitiam table and chairs.
I know many people think it doesn’t exactly go with our contemporary interior thus far but I also read somewhere that “don’t listen to the interior designers” when it comes to mixing and matching, go with your gut! After all, furnishing a home is a very personal thing and everything depends on your personal lifestyle…what you do, how you do, when…who…etc.
Its quite OK to mix contemporary with say, ethnic accents. Kopitiam tables and chairs are a traditional Malaysian thing and I love the marble top. The chairs also sometimes come with marble seats. You will usually see them in coffee shops of olden days. Today you will find them in the relatively new phenomenon of Malaysian coffee bars serving Malaysian coffees and food and of course competing with Starbucks, Coffee Bean and the like.
I had an authentic set – actually the chairs were antique – before we left for the UK…unfortunately I sold the set.
Anyway….guess what….its not easy to find the traditional kopitiam tables and chairs anywhere! I found a table and stools but they were made of rubberwood and painted over. Not quite crazy about that. The real stuff was made of teak I believe. In another shop we looked through a catalogue and saw the set but I’ve learned my lesson – never buy anything if you can’t see the real thing!
So I gave up on kopitiam furniture. Back to contemporary. When we walked into Fella Design, I told Danial that this is where we will find my round glass table and the chairs to go with it. Well, seems I attracted the table but not the chairs.
The table was perfect so we bought it. I had reservations about the clear chairs and would still like to look around. In the evening after dropping Danial off at KL Sentral for his commute to Kerteh I decided to go back to Courts Mammoth to find my chairs. I found them alright – almost exactly like the one in the pics I found on the net which I posted in a previous post!
I found the green chair perfect! Exactly what I wanted but it had to be dark brown. Courts being Courts – that was the only piece they had….more coming, maybe, but don’t know when! So off I went to look in IKEA next door and there were options there which I would consider getting as a last resort. But it would have to be the last resort because none of them were the perfect design. We’ll see what happens after the table is delivered next week.
