The Forgotten Table

This coffee table was actually one my hubby came across in one of the buildings he'd bought.  A tenant had left it behind and so it was headed to the dumpster.  My husband (smart man that he is) sent me a quick picture of it and asked if it was something I would be interested in.  Um, YES!

It was in ok shape.  The the top was quite chipped and scratched, but being solid wood I knew it could look great with a little help.

I removed the top and got to work giving the bottom a light sanding and a coat of primer.  Don't you just love my paint station...also known as a front deck! ;)

The top took a little more work.  I stripped it of the old varnish, gave it a good sanding and then started staining the top with a pre mixed mahogany/poly stain.  I took this picture after the first coat, but I think I put on a total of 3 coats to achieve the dark rich color I was hoping for.

Once everything was dry, I distressed the bottom just a bit my giving a couple of the edges a light sand and then covered the entire table with a water based, non yellowing glossy acrylic clear coat.  This gave the table a gorgeous glossy finish and will protect it a little more.

The hardware is missing in the picture as I had planned to check  out a few different options rather than use the dated hardware that was originally on the table.

I just love the shape of the legs!  It was hard to see past the ugly/dated orangy wood, but with the white paint, I think the gorgeous shape of the legs really stand out now.

I was really happy with how the makeover on this coffee table turned out!

Turquoise Coffee Table – Take 2

If you’re a personal friend of mine on Facebook, you’ll know the changes this particular coffee table has gone through. If not, here’s a quick recap!

I purchased this table from a friend and decided I wanted to try something fun...something other than the regular white I normally paint a lot of my furniture.

Before I could start painting though, I had to do a little prep work. The top finish was damaged and I didn’t care for the bottom shelf along the bottom (if you can call it that).

The bottom was quick to fix. It was only held on with 4 screws, so once I’d removed those, the bottom fell off. I sanded the top, added some wood filler to fill in some of the deeper areas, gave it another sand and then covered it in a coat of primer.

I was so excited to start the next step – adding the color!!! I had chosen a soft turquoise (looks more blue in the picture) and couldn’t wait to see how it would look. I painted two coats and loved the soft color.

I could have stopped at that point, but I wanted to try my hand at another technique – glazing. I’ve seen it done so many times in the blog world and thought I’d try it. I added some chocolate glaze, rubbed it off, stepped back and....um, didn’t like it that much. It just looked dull and a bit dirty.

I realize glazing is supposed to make a piece look dirty, but I didn’t like it on this table. I tried to live with it for awhile, but when my husband said he didn’t care for it either, I knew it wasn’t going to work. I tried to sell it, but after a month and not a single request from anyone to see it, I knew this table needed a change.

SO, here is take #2. I thought I would just go with my regular standby of white satin paint. Unfortunately, after the turquoise, the white just looked so bland and boring to me.

I had to come up with something else. I popped into Home Depot and picked up about a dozen paint chips in various shades of cream. I finally settled on the color Linen White. I could hardly believe the difference just one coat of paint made! It was just what the table needed to warm it up a bit. After a second coat of paint, I decided to take it one step further. I decided to add a French Postmark design to the top. After transferring the image using a pencil, I slowly filled in the design with a small paintbrush and some dark brown paint ( I used Bittersweet Chocolate from Behr. Tip – if you don’t need much paint, just buy a sample pot! It was only $5 and will last me a LONG time).

I still plan to give the image a light sand to soften it a bit and then add a clear coat to the entire table to protect the paint, but I’ll wait a week for the paint to completely cure first. I absolutely love this table now. Even my husband was impressed! My plan was to redo the table and list it for sale again, but I think this one will be staying in our living room. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

What would you do?

Welcome!  So glad you popped by.  I thought it would be fun to show you a piece I was given after a friend picked it up on the side of the road.  (thank you A & H).  Yes, roadside trash can be a nice gift for a friend!! ;)

I would love your opinion - what would you do with this piece?  I have a few ideas floating around in my head, but would love to hear your suggestions.

Ok, here it is. I think it was originally intended as a small plant holder.

At first I thought it was made to hang on the wall, but when I looked at the back, it only has one small wire circle/hanger.  I'm not sure if it would be strong enough to keep it held up along with the weight of a plant.  The mirror is held on to the back with a few little mirror clips which are easily removed.  When I set it on my front step, I noticed the gingerbread trim (I think that's what it's called) along the front edge sits a little lower than the rest of the shelf, so maybe it was made to be propped on another shelf?  I'm not sure.

At the moment it's covered in spider webs and is actually still home to a black spider and a creepy crawly nest of spider babies  *shiver*.  They'll be finding a new home soon in our patch of weeds at the side of the house.

So, any ideas?  I'd love to hear them!  :) 

Cristina