Vintage Corner Table Could Turn Out To Be A Thrift Store Find Worth Hundreds

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The best thing about shopping at a thrift store is that you never really know what you're going to find. It could be a great collection of used vinyl or vintage Libbey dishware worth hundreds of dollars. But if you happen across a mid-century walnut corner table, you may have just uncovered a thrift store find worth thousands of dollars. Specifically, we're talking about a Milo Baughman piece from the Glenn of California furniture company.

Collectors and furniture historians will likely recognize Milo Baughman's name. His furniture is known for its simple yet striking geometry and was designed with both form and function in mind. Baughman's pieces were always proportional, however, and never leaned too far into being overly modern. In 1948, he began working with the Glenn of California furniture company to create the "California Modern" collection, featuring furniture with distinct, angular designs. 

While Baughman later formed a tremendous partnership with furniture maker Thayer Coggin, the furniture he designed for Glenn of California (which is no longer in business) remains highly valued. Case in point: this corner table you've stumbled across at the thrift store. Online auction houses value these tables at more than $1,800. It's certainly a valuable collectible item you should never overlook if you find one at a thrift store.

While some thrift store treasures, such as vintage Griswold cast iron kitchenware, can potentially be difficult to identify due to age or wear and tear, spotting a Milo Baughman Glenn of California corner table is remarkably simple. The "California Modern" line he created for the company emphasized the use of three materials: walnut, iron, and Formica. The corner table in question is made of walnut, which is easy to pinpoint thanks to its rich brown hue and decorative grain. 

One of its most distinctive features is its design, which allows it to fit neatly into a corner between two pieces of furniture. It forms an L-shape, with two long rectangular sections featuring glass shelves meeting at a square center. The piece also contains magazine pockets under the glass shelves, and the tabletop of the center square is removable.

These Milo Baughman Glenn of California corner tables regularly sell for well over $1,000, making a thrift store discovery such as this one especially valuable.