The Tulip Table: It Goes with Everything!
I've never been a Trekkie, so it wasn't until I Wikied "Eero Saarinen" that I found out that Tulip furniture starred in the original Star Trek series. I'm not sure if this adds or detracts from Tulip's cool factor. At the risk of being a total geek, I'm going to say it adds to its cool factor.
It's funny, with the explosion of design blogs over the past five years, as well as the frequency in which they appear in Dwell, Tulip tables seem rather ubiquitous. However, this table, which was designed by Eero for Knoll in 1956, is so genius that it will never go out of style. At the time he designed it, Mr. Saarinen was persevering to "clear up the slum of legs in the U.S. home." (check out the fascinating Time magazine cover story from 1956 here -that's where I snagged this quote!).
The Tulip table is the perfect example of form following function and resulting in a beautiful design. It works with so many different looks - straight up mid-century modern, space-age, eclectic, mixed in with antiques, as the only white thing in the room or in an all-white room, the list goes on. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen it paired with a chair that didn't look great with it, whether it's the matching Tulip chairs or a cafe chair by Thonet. If you have seen a bad Tulip table/chair combo, upload a photo to the comments, because it will shock me. In the meantime, let's check out some lovely combinations:
It's funny, with the explosion of design blogs over the past five years, as well as the frequency in which they appear in Dwell, Tulip tables seem rather ubiquitous. However, this table, which was designed by Eero for Knoll in 1956, is so genius that it will never go out of style. At the time he designed it, Mr. Saarinen was persevering to "clear up the slum of legs in the U.S. home." (check out the fascinating Time magazine cover story from 1956 here -that's where I snagged this quote!).
The Tulip table is the perfect example of form following function and resulting in a beautiful design. It works with so many different looks - straight up mid-century modern, space-age, eclectic, mixed in with antiques, as the only white thing in the room or in an all-white room, the list goes on. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen it paired with a chair that didn't look great with it, whether it's the matching Tulip chairs or a cafe chair by Thonet. If you have seen a bad Tulip table/chair combo, upload a photo to the comments, because it will shock me. In the meantime, let's check out some lovely combinations:
These bent wood chairs play with the whole "slum of legs" concept as well. The grained look is a great contrast against the white table.
I adore how this Tulip table anchors this eclectic collection of chairs.
This is one of my absolute favorite dining rooms on this site - it's all very Scandanavian, yet it's an interesting mix.
More traditional American chairs in a trellis print - this could have been too busy were it not for that classic table and white curtains!
Vanessa is always changing up the chairs with her Tulip tables. Here high contrast in style and colors is working.
Here the low stools can scoot right under the Tulip.