Restitution

Have you ever screwed up? I mean, really screwed up…on something that didn’t belong to you?

It’s one thing when a project of your own goes south. That’s bound to happen once in a while, and it’s no fun…but what about when it happens on a project that belongs to someone else?

Well, those are the days when you just wish you never got out of bed!

You can see where this is going, right?

All I was supposed to do was a simple refinish job on a table top while my friend was between houses. There weren’t even any legs to worry about. She just wanted to resuscitate her hand-me-down table and give it a few more years until they could afford a new one. Easy enough….so easy, in fact, that I called in one of my handy-dandy short helpers in to do some sanding for me!

Remember this guy with the mischievous smile?

Turns out he could have used a little more supervision on the sanding process, ‘cause this is what we ended up with:

Let’s look a little more closely, shall we??

Yep. All those arrows point to spots where he sanded right through the veneer into the plywood base. Ack!

We all know it wasn’t a great piece of furniture...

…but it wasn’t MY furniture to wreck!

It wasn’t fun for my boy or me to confess our mutual misdeed to my friend, although you couldn’t have asked for a more understanding listener. Since these weren’t the types of flaws one can hide on a stained table-top, I could only feel better about offering to replace the table. Strictly to ease my conscience (and trust me, it was a battle), my friend agreed to accept this table that I had waiting in my garage “in trade.”

It’s solid oak, and I liked the legs! Plus, it has a leaf.

(You can see I already had sanded the table top in this picture.)

After looking at some pictures of other tables I have refinished, my friend chose a lightly-distressed black base and a dark stained top (like this one).

Her new house has dark, reddish-brown wood floors, so I tried to give the wood top that tone, by using alternating layers of English Chestnut and Antique Walnut stain—two each.

I finished the table with four coats of Varathane, to keep up with her young family.

So that’s the story behind the table “Resitution.”

It went to its new home last night!

And now my conscience can rest!

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Linking up here!

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For the love of tables...

I have many weaknesses...one of which is for the look of a dark-stained table top paired with a creamy distressed base! I just can't get enough of it.

I saw this table on KSL.com several weeks ago. The price? $10. I usually think about an ad for a day or so before I call on it--not this time. I made an appointment to go get it, but actually had to go back twice because the seller slept through his doorbell! It is a 4-foot round table, plus an 18" leaf.

The table was old--truly old, not just a reproduction. I didn't care.
A dog had chewed on the feet. I didn't care.
One side of the table wanted to lift completely off the base. I didn't care.

Did I mention it was $10?

Later I found out why it was $10...but I still didn't care (much).

In addition to needing screws to re-attach the top to the base, I also had to use my Dremel to sand down the apron so the table top could meet without a 1/2" gap. Yep, the apron was wider than the table top. Not sure how they managed that. Then I think the leaf was added at a later date, and whoever put it in didn't think the leaf should ever come out. I had to have a friend (a braver friend than I) cut a chunk of wood off of one of the sliders underneath so it could close all the way back down. It was an adventure!

But in the end...

I stained the top with a layer of Antique Walnut and a layer of English Chestnut stains this time. I love the combination. The bottom is painted "Creamy" by Sherwin Williams, and I used the English Chestnut stain for the glaze.

I don't have "before" pictures of my chairs. I was too busy getting this set ready for the Spring Market! I had two of this style of chairs; they are surprisingly comfortable! I paid $5 for both of them at DI!

And then two of this style of chairs ($5 each from a good friend), which I got the day before the Market. I finished them up with a coat of Minwax Polycrylic literally an hour before I got in the car to go!


I don't have a really good beauty shot, I'm afraid. Just too much "rushing" to get pictures at all before the Market opened!

So please ignore the finishing wax on top of the table!

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The laaaasstttt set of chairs (this year!)

....otherwise entitled, "Chairs for the laaaassstttt table!"

Sorry to keep you waiting (if you were) for more about the table I posted last time. I was supposed to get to this post yesterday, but our family had an unscheduled stop in Rexburg, Idaho, last night! We were on our way to Montana for Thanksgiving, but we got caught in a nasty blizzard, and there was no going any farther!

So, without further ado...what is a table without chairs? I had an idea in my mind that I wanted eight different chairs around my table, and one day, I found SIX different pressed-back chairs for sale on KSL.com.

I am missing some pictures, unfortunately, but here are the two arm chairs that were with this collection:


Aren't they gorgeous? I hit up my friend at Di~Vine Consignment for two more pressed-back chairs, and she came through for me. Now I had my eight!

One of those, unfortunately, looked like this:


So I had to do this:


Which meant I had to order this:


So I had my first experience of re-caning a chair! (It wasn't bad!)

The chairs got wiped down with liquid sander, and although it helped, I can't say that I was overly impressed with it. I still resorted to spraying on some Zinsser 1-2-3 primer before the Sherwin Williams Creamy paint. I will frankly admit that it was almost a shame to cover up the beautiful wood on these chairs...but I was going for a look here!

I will also say that I sprayed a LOT of spindles! Well over ONE HUNDRED when all was said and done!

Here are the chairs after painting:


And here's a look after they've been distressed and glazed, and were just waiting a polyacrylic protective coat.


This set was *such* a lot of work, that I honestly wasn't sure I was going to be able to stand it in the end! Once the chairs were done, and the table was mostly done, however, I put the table together and placed six chairs around it in my garage and stood back and looked...and wow! It was actually pretty!

How nice.

Next step: put a leaf in and see how it looks with eight chairs!!

(((((crickets chirping)))))

"Houston??? We have a problem!"

Has anyone guessed what the problem might be? I certainly didn't. In case you're as clueless as I was, I'll spell it out for you.

Remember how this table has a beautiful, elaborate base that is separate from the table top? Meaning that when you expand the table, the top spreads apart, but the LEGS STAY IN THE SAME PLACE? Which means that when you put a leaf in THERE IS NO MORE ROOM FOR ANOTHER CHAIR BETWEEN THOSE LEGS??

Yah. Neither did I.

This was a deal-breaker for me, folks. If you normally only needed six chairs around your table, and only brought out the extras for occasional guests, it would be fine. But it you have to have eight chairs around your table every day, and you can't push those chairs IN!! Well, it's not gonna happen in my kitchen.

So, the table that was supposed to be for me...wasn't meant to be.

But here's what it looked like!


With one leaf:

With two:

With lots of pretty chairs:


Here's a full shot of the chair I re-caned:






And those beautiful legs:


One last beauty shot:

They may not have been meant for me, but they have found new homes...because, believe it or not, someone wanted the table but not the chairs, while another wanted the chairs but not the table!

And as for me...well I got some cash! (Which will hopefully finance a project I have in mind for my boring family room.)

We (me and my buyers!) have much to be thankful for.

Hoping each of you also have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! May your day be filled with wonderful company and excellent food, and the chance to reflect on your many blessings!

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