Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Project: Table Refinishing

My friend had a table she had planned on refinishing, but realized that she was just never going to get around to doing...and the purging bug was biting at her heels...so a call was made.

To me.

And yes, I took it.


Much to my husband's disdain.

But I...I was very excited. I could see the diamond in the ruff. I could see the beauty that was hidden inside. It only needed some work (okay...a lot of work), a little love, and some chalk paint.

Did I mention that it would seat all of us comfortably and that an extra leaf added in could make it seat 10?!?

Oh...and it was FREE!!

Easy decision right?!? Now you know why I was jumpin' around and smiling like a silly school girl.

The previous owner has a son who thought that the table would make a great fort...so he took the largest nails available on the market and nailed boards all around the table splintering and damaging it.


First on my list: wood putty...and lots of it.

Since I love the vintage, chabby chic, French look, I knew I would be distressing the piece anyway so I chose to embrace it's character...the good, bad, and the even the ugly. To be honest, now that it's done, each bump, bang, and hammer mark lend to it's charm.

 


Squeeeeeeal...look at how big it is!!

   


 4 coats of chalk paint and 3 coats of poly later, the table is finished. Whew, there's quite a learning curve to poly, I love it...I hate it!! I love it....oh, I hate it!! AARRGG! I hate this stuff, I hate this stuff, I hate this stuff. But by the 3rd coat, I had become a quick learner. Now I could say I'm a pro at the it.

Mom and I went to Ikea and bought new white chairs to match. Jason and Ben spent an afternoon putting all 8 of them together. We had to let the last coat of poly dry for 72 hours to ensure it had cured perfectly. It was three long days of waiting on my part.


I'm so happy with the end result. To say I love this table is an understatement. And to not hear my kids yelling "you're too close", "you're in my space", "mom, make her move OVER!" is music to my ears. And to think...we still have an extra leaf in the basement!! For company...not more children. ;) In case you were wondering...










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