Spring is coming!

...And that means it's time to get back to my garage!

My husband left town for about four days this week, leaving his side of the garage empty.

Nature abhors a vacuum.

So I filled it up for him.

I am tickled to be back to looking for my furniture bargains! I really didn't know how much I missed it!

In celebration...here's my first furniture project of 2011

What about the cabinet-at-the-top-of-the-stairs, you ask? Didn't count. It was for me, and I worked on it INSIDE the house!

I picked up this little coffee table at Deseret Industries this week. It didn't look too good, which explains why I got it for $10.

I have a friend who was looking for a bench for Touch of Class Photography, so I snatched it up (he does amazing work if you happen to need a photographer in northern Utah).

But this is a coffee table, not a bench. Meh. No biggee. This particular table has iron legs (see?), which seem rather bench-ish, and it's higher than a normal coffee table. And it was $10. It'll work.


The top was good solid oak under the horrible finish.


I applied two coats of Minwax Antique Walnut Stain, and two coats of hand-rubbed polyurethane.


Still looks like a coffee table to YOU? Well, probably, since it's in the middle of my living room!

I guess I should have let my children sit on it after all...

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Gathering table

I am still on my quest to get enough of my garage cleared out for my husband to park in the garage before the frost hits! And I may just make it! :-)

I finished one of my more ambitious projects to date. Although I have finished two tables (here and here), and even eight chairs for one of those tables (here and here), I didn't tackle them all at once. This time, however, I found a bargain I couldn't resist, in the shape of an oak pedestal table (with leaf!) and six pressed-back chairs. They've been sitting in my garage for about a month now.

Yes, I already had started sanding when I remembered to take a picture! But not too much.

I love love love these chairs!

And I am still in love with the walnut top/creamy bottom combination. Sorry. I promise my next project will be something different than that (coming soon!).

I used Minwax Dark Walnut stain again. It is gorgeous on oak!

I know I put at least two coats of stain on. It could have been three! Then I gave it three coats of polyurethane.

Next I tackled the base of the table. I used a brush and gave it a coat of Zinser 1-2-3 primer. I am liking this brand better than Kilz, I think. Then I chose NOT to use Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint for this project. It would have taken a LOT of spray paint. Instead, I invested in a gallon of Sherwin Williams Creamy and brushed and sprayed it on.

Here's what the leaf looked like with the apron painted. You can't see any of the pretty pressed pattern, and you know what that means....

Time to do some glazing!

I chose not to use stain as my glazing medium this time, but instead I used diluted burnt umber craft paint. The color is a great match, but more importantly, I had more control than I do with stain. (You can wipe stain off to a certain extent, but not as easily as paint.) I brushed the diluted paint on liberally, waited a few minutes, and then wiped with a damp rag to remove the excess. In the picture above, the left leg has been glazed, while the right leg has not.


The difference really shows in the chairs. Above, the left chair is un-glazed, compared to the right glazed chair. I had to use the brush to get all those little crevices saturated with color, and then wipe off the flat surfaces. Certainly glazing of any kind does darken the overall color of the chair, but not nearly as much as stain would have--in fact I don't think I would have been able to get the contrast I wanted with stain in this instance.

Doesn't the table apron look better now?

Lastly I distressed the chairs and the table base. I didn't really do anything to the pressed pattern; it stood out well with just the glazing. But all the spindles and corners and curves got worked over. It just seems more practical to me to distress a piece--and that's probably because I am the mother of six! Things are going to get distressed whether I like it or not...so it's just less traumatic if it looks like it's on purpose!

So here are some "after" shots...

Four chairs with no leaf...

A shot of some great legs....

And six chairs with the leaf inserted.

I was so tempted to bring it in my house to see how it would look. But my 13-year-old and 11-year-old house slaves groaned at the prospect, and I caved to unpopular demand!

I have been searching and searching and searching the classifieds for a table of my own to do this with. I have seen a couple that would be perfect (for example, a HUGE Pottery Barn table that was sold for seventy-five dollars), but I have been too late each time!

So...if anyone comes across a likely prospect in the Salt Lake area, let me know! I need something that can easily accomodate eight people (about 78"), with leaves that can handle up to twelve (96" or more). I dream of chunky turned legs and a plank-style top. Cross your fingers for me!

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A couple of weeks ago I hit the most marvelous garage sale--one of those I wasn't even looking for, but just happened upon. This is one of the treasures I found.





This little dressing table was dirty beyond belief; it had dark circles on the top, the pretty trimming on the left side was loose, there was veneer loose.... and on it went. It didn't matter; for $10 I was hooked! In the pictures you're seeing, it actually has been cleaned up quite a bit. This thing had spiderwebs everywhere--including behind the pulls! Ugh!!



After lots of sanding, glue, and patience, I got it in pretty decent condition. There were still spots where the veneer was kind of "flaky." My best guess it that this little table sat outside for a considerable amount of time.





I decided to go with classic black for this piece. Here on the left side is where the veneer was the worst. Rather than try to disguise it, I roughed it up a bit more than usual with sandpaper to accentuate all that "natural" distressing!







Here's the big picture. Although it's certainly not in perfect condition, it has a charm all it's own. It could serve as a desk, but one would have to have a pretty small chair to fit underneath of it. I think those old dressing tables almost always had a bench instead. I think it would make a much better entry table.



It found a new owner today...the funny thing is that I think the new owner is going to paint over it! Apparently she couldn't resist those lovely curves any more than I could!














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Finally, more furniture!

I feel as if I have been having withdrawal pains...homeschooling has been VERY hard on my furniture refinishing! But I finished this cute little project this week, and that makes me feel better. This was a custom job for a sweet neighbor of mine. She wanted a cute desk to go in her daughter's bedroom, and wouldn't you know it...I happened to have one in my garage!

Of course, it wasn't that cute to begin with...

The top had definitely seen better days. And the hardware...bleeahhh.

But there was no denying it had cute details! I love the trim between the drawers, the pretty curved front, and the chunky turned legs.

Now the desk has been painted a high-gloss white. That did not turn out to be my favorite paint! It required *12 hours* between coats.

The glossier the paint, the more imperfections show up. I put two coats on it, but there were still too many flaws. I re-sanded it, re-primed it, and re-painted it. There's really nothing to do about it in the end--it's always going to be an old desk! But it looks much better now.


The hardware was all replaced to match another piece of furniture in the bedroom (you can catch a glimpse on the right, above). I love the pretty brushed silver handles. However, the holes definitely did NOT match up! Thank goodness for wood filler!


By now I'm sure it's full of crayons, coloring books, and other paraphernalia. My friend tells me her daughter loves it. She calls it her "homework!"

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