I really don’t wish to spit the good folks at Knoll in the face, but people need to be reminded of this years-old discovery:
The Saarinen Round Dining Table, $1,646
IKEA’s DOCKSTA Dining Table, $279
Debuting the in 1956, designer Eero Saarinen unveiled the trim and slim Pedestal Table to “clear up the slum of legs in the U.S. home.” The same year it appeared on the cover of TIME magazine and has ever since been held dear in many a modernist heart. Manufactured by Knoll for decades, the original Saarinen Pedestal design has been licensed (among countless other Mid Mod designs) to Design Within Reach, where the all-white version – laminate white top and scratch-resistant aluminum leg – will run you an expected $1,646.
And then there are you friends at IKEA. The DOCKSTA dining table is a pretty darn good match if you ask me, especially if your character allows for living with a non-genuine articles. I remember this table as long as I’ve been shopping for my own apartment/home, but it could be one of those things where you simply don’t remember life before it -- it’s been available at IKEA for at least 5 years, I'm sure.
Of course the leg is not a single piece of aluminum, and the white top is a painted piece of fiberboard, and the proportions of the original is elegance incarnate, but in all honesty, who is looking that closely?
And an almost $1500 dollar difference? I dunno…you have be in the industry, I think, if you are too ashamed to go for it…
Are you familiar with either? Happen to own either? Do tell!
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