I’ve been getting lots of emails and questions about lucite since this post. I’m a big fan too, though I know it’s not for everyone or every room. I’m considering getting a small acrylic side table for our living room for an awkward space that needs a flat surface, but not a lot of visual real estate. Sort of like how these little tables work in this Suzanne Kasler room:
House Beautiful
Here are a few favorite pieces on the market and in the running.
Parsons meets Kartell for $166
Three nesting tables for $139.
Riddle me this, Batman. How can those tables above be so reasonably priced, but this slightly more intricate piece below can be six times as expensive? It’s $699 at Wisteria and $849 at Horchow. I love it so.
We already talked about CB2 as a great source for acrylic tables.
Plexi-Craft is the king of acrylic furniture in my book. If you want something in lucite, chances are they sell it (except for my favorite side table above. boo.). Though, some of the pieces are weirdly expensive and then others are totally reasonable.
My favorite piece is probably the trunk ($328). I think it would be cool for throws and extra pillows in a living room.
Reminds me of this piece featured in the most recent Lonny.
I love the lutcite, and you're right it's not for every room, but it's something about it…I try to use a small something in each room.
The reason for the price difference is most likely production methods.
I studied Industrial Design years ago at Uni. Lucite is a thermoplastic – you can heat it up and bend it – which is how the simple nesting tables would be made – out of heated and bent sheets.
The more complicated shapes are probably injection molded. The molds for this are extremely expensive – made of solid metal, finished with the smoothest possible precision finish, and capable of being pressed together with lots of pressure and heat. These are only made for large production runs.
Another way the complicated shapes could be made is by being finished by hand – shaped like wood, turned from a solid shape and sanded and polished to a smooth glossy finish. This is also really expensive because each one is made individually.
Some of the other shapes, like the trunk, are probably made with flat sheets that are held together with other fittings.
I have a tip on how to clean lucite….always use a cloth instead of paper towel. Over time, the wood fibers in the paper towel will scratch and dull lucite.
That is why lucite can get cloudy.
Clearly- you sure know how to keep me coming back for more things. I love these lucite, clear items. I am glad I have my clear lucite recipe box! (circa high school days)
pve
Thanks for sourcing a clear trunk for us! I've been lusting after it ever since seeing that living room spread. Good luck finding a pretty piece for your house!
I've always loved the CB2 waterfall cocktail table but I think it's just too low profile for my living area/sofa. I found one on eBay once that was fairly reasonable, but then I just decided to go a different direction. I love my Louis Ghost chair though!
I've been wanting to inject some lucite into my otherwise traditional decor for some extra pizazz. I'm thrilled there are some affordable options available!
~Erin
I keep on going back and forth on getting a lucite table. our family room is about to add a piano so that makes a lot of furniture for such a small space, thinking a coffee table would lighten it up a bit.
I love these pieces – especially the lucite trunk as coffee table. Never having used lucite in my decor, and with three small kids in the home, am I crazy to think I can keep a lucite coffee table looking good?
They are beautiful! But I would not have one. They are a safety hazard! You can't see them well, which makes tripping over them all too easy. And, for clients of a certain age, it would not be safe.
Love this look! I just found four acrylic tables on craigslist this weekend for $45 and scooped them up fast. I also just posted about another deal on Atlanta's craigslist for a set of clear acrylic nesting tables for $25. So check craigslist!!!
I'm a huge fan of acrylic. When we moved to the city, I wanted to keep my big farm table but needed to change the wooden chairs to take up less visual space. I changed them to lucite chairs and LOVE the look!
I pretty much love lucite everything, but this is great! I love that trunk.
PBTeen also has one that's cheap here:
http://www.pbteen.com/products/c-thru-table/?pkey=cbedside-accent-tables
I also am dying to have some lucite Louis chairs. I found some inexpensive ones on Amazon…who would have thought?!
Did you see the episode of Rob & Big when they got the hanging lucite chairs? Awesome.
Great sources! Love that trunk- such a modern take on an old piece!
I too love the Wisteria table {and the coffee table they have!}, but not the price.
thanks for all the shopping resources — that trunk is amazing!
I love that trunk! So brilliant to still have the storage, but take away the "out of sight, out of mind" excuse and make something beautiful out of it : )
I love lucite but not it's price tag. It's too cool now for me to pick up at a thrift store or garage sale. Any tips on keeping it spot/streak free??
that trunk is cool, but funny. I guess you can only store pretty things in there.
The target website actually has some affordable lucite tables that I've been eyeballing.
I just visited a friend in Chicago and saw she still has her Lucite coffee table in her apartment, after nearly 20 years & it was still looking fabulous…Janell
I heart acrylic furniture too! It's addictive, isn't it? I'm so excited, I just bought the acrylic trunk:
http://www.decorpad.com/viewThread.htm?messageId=29442&expand=false
And, I have the acrylic nesting tables as well! :)
FYI: It's way cheaper here:
http://www.interiorexpressoutlet.com/living-room-furniture/acrylic-nesting-table-3-pc-table-set-clear-or-black-chicago.html?feed=Froogle
Can't get enough! Love your blog and your work!
I'm with you. They are plastic, so sometimes they kill me when they are like $400….ehmmmm…Kartell.
A few years ago, I saw a photo of a dressing room in a magazine. The chair and dressing table were lucite, there was a huge mirror in front .. it was both beautiful and yet, made me think it would be disorientating to be in a room with see through furniture and mirrors.
Knowing me, there would be a lot of bumping into things and missing the chair :)
OOH, I want that trunk… thanks for sharing!
I think the CB2 table is one of my faves. Though I've definitely cooled on lucite generally, we do have this in our office and all of our clients love it and after 4 years, it still looks great!
Love this lucite round-up! Great job!
Dying over the lucite trunk….
Longtime lurker, first time posting. :-)I really wanted the CB2 coffee table but it was too big for my teeny weeny living room. Then I found a seller on ebay who makes a smaller, thicker, less expensive version:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Acrylic-Coffee-Cocktail-Waterfall-Table-Lucite-34-long-/270543375148?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Tables&hash=item3efda44b2c
At first I was a little nervous buying on ebay, but the dimensions and price were just right. I'm really happy with my purchase. I would definitely buy from him again.
Btw, I LOVE your blog, Jenny!
Your blog is the first one I check each day. Love it and thanks for putting some prices in your post. I like a little reality with my fantasy!
Love that trunk! Goes on my soon to be list!!!
:)
love the trunk!
I've always wondered about the exorbitant price differences between lucite items, too. Thanks Claire for the explanation!
Jenny!!
Little tip from one decorator to another… We use plexicraft on almost every job bc they will do anything custom. Just send them a drawing and they will make it! The thicker the piece of acrylic the more expensive it is. Also check out Canal Plastics as well, they do the same thing, will make or copy whatever you want! Way cheaper than retail sources.
Cheers, Lindsey Herod
Yea… I use plexi-craft all the time. They are custom making something for me right now!!
I have z chairs from them and I had ikat cushions made… they look awesome!
http://sketch42blog.com/2010/05/plum-cushion-me/
Good morning Jenny
Lutcite, I guess they need to tweak their prices a bit.
Regards,
Nicole
i love the many designs of lucite! thanks
Thank you so much for these resources! I think the little parsons is in our future. I found your site thru Simply Seleta. Can't wait to read more! Julie
I LOVE the clear coffee table/trunk. Thanks for posting. I'm wondering if anyone out there knows what these things look like after a bit of wear and tear… Do they get cloudy and scratched easily? How bad do they look after a few years?
Woo, wondeful! I also have the same idea on home decor.