Five Ways with Hairpin Legs

Image from Pinterest.

A few months ago I was browsing through the Loaf catalogue when I stumbled upon a beautiful coffee table similar to this for £££. Surely, I thought to myself, that table is easy enough to make yourself! I promptly googled 'hairpin legs', showed OH the picture and off he trotted down to the garage to forage for spare wood.

Image from Pinterest

I love hairpin legs. I think they're the perfect way of mixing industrial and mid-century looks in your home. The raw, bare metal is very industrial looking and the shape is very reminiscent of the 50s, 60s and 70s. Indeed, the hairpin leg is a wartime invention, their design limited to the amount of metal available at the time. They were then embraced by iconic furniture makers such as Knoll and Eames thus probably making them one the most recognisable leg designs of the mid century.

Knoll Stools - Pinterest

These days there are plenty of suppliers of hairpin legs online. After a thorough googling session and a brief battle with my concience about buying British, I settled for a supplier on eBay called Designer-Legs. Their stock of hairpin legs came in lots of choices of colour and heights and I opted for 14 inch coffee table height which cost me £39 for the set of four.

Image from eBay

They arrived promptly and OH instantly disappeared again into the garage (any excuse!) I'm not exactly sure what he did in there because I'm not allowed in but, for those interested  in doing something similar, it was something along these lines! 

Image from Pinterest

He emerged several hours later with this beauty! 

My front room!

Needless to say, I was delighted! Exactly the coffee table I wanted for just the price of the legs because we used leftover wood in the garage. 

Once you've discovered how cheap hairpin legs are to buy and how versatile they are, you will want to stick them on everything, I can guarantee it! Here's four more ideas about how you can use them:

1. Stools - so simple and versatile and produces a Scandinavian vibe when mixed with pale wood.

Image from Pinterest

2. Side tables - I love how this look mixes up the mid-century look with an industrial and Scandinavian feel too.

Image from Pinterest

3. Vintage trunk table - you can also upcycle a vintage suitcase with hairpin legs to make a quirky side table with a very 50s vibe.

Image from Pinterest

4. Mid Century Sideboard - who doesn't love a mid-century Danish style sideboard -  but some of them can look a bit featureless and boring. These less stylish ones can be picked up for a song and certainly for much less than the well known ones such as Jentique or G-Plan. Replacing the standard legs on these plain sideboards with hairpin legs adds much more interest and a much more obvious retro vibe. 

Image from Pinterest

These are just a few ideas, the world is your oyster really and I will certainly be doing more upcycling with hairpin legs soon!

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