| Project by flcopper169 | posted 173 days ago | 779 views | 0 times favorited | 7 comments |  |
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I am writing this under my husbands name. We purchased this table off Craigslist. It was in rough shape as evidenced by the pictures. After stripping and much sanding with various grits it was apparant that the table was made up of a variety of woods. I’m assuming that it was built out of whatever was available at the time. The people we brought it from said it was in their parents garage for as long as they could remember and their grandparents home prior to that. I think they were in the midwest.
I tried a number of different stain combinations but the wood didn’t “pop” as I hoped it would. It just didn’thave a real beautiful grain. Therefore, I decided to paint. Again, I went through 5 different paint techniques/colors till I achieved the look I wanted. Of course, all this staining/ painting required me to restain/sand each time. I used a flat oil paint, brushed on, and a paste wax hand rubbed top coat. I sanded between each coat which helped raise the grain and the texture came through in the finished product; which is what i hoped for. hand rubbiing the finish gave it a really nice light sheen, richened the color, and a great patina. I finished with a polish sand, all done by hand.
The end result as pictured. We’ll be putting a marble top on it when we get ready to build the kitchen around it. Since I bake, it’ll be used as orginally intended..a bakers and prep table.
Hope you enjoy,
Elyse
PS … The large drawer bottoms and original top are zinc
-- Happy and safe woodworking, Flcopper169@aol.com
7 comments so far
BTKS
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492 posts in 363 days
posted 173 days ago
I like the painted version. I feel like it takes the piece back to it’s original look, especially the light sheen and texture. The color and sheen remind me of milk paints. I live and grew up in the mid-west and have seen many originals in different versions. This piece brings back a lot of memories from grandparents, various family members and neighbors homes. Thanks for posting, you did a wonderful job on this table. OBTW, I think a marble top would not only be functional but historically accurate for a top end model.
BTKS
robbinscabin
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146 posts in 387 days
posted 173 days ago
I agree with the BTKS. The color is great, very authentic. I do believe that marble tops would’ve been the topper of choice but if it’s out of your price range than butcher block might be really nice too. Great job…you must have the patience of a saint! All that staining and sanding! Whew!
-- Robbinscabin
johnpoole
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74 posts in 365 days
posted 173 days ago
not a big fan of painted wood, but in your case, great save. your vision paid off. looks like it was built prior to any power tools. mortise and tennon and hide glue. original paint would have been either lead based or white wash. good looking project
-- it's not a sickness, i can stop buying tools anytime i want
bookworm
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24 posts in 220 days
posted 171 days ago
Great job! I think the paint is wonderful and entirely appropriate. After all, this was a work piece, not necessarily fine furniture.
-- "I asked my wife if I look dorky in the video below where I'm planing that long piece of wood. Her reply: "It's all dorky."" - Mitch Roberson from his blog Furnitude
SCOTSMAN
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2244 posts in 484 days
posted 171 days ago
Wow what a difference you brought an old boy back to life and made it as new well done ten out of ten.Alistair
-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease
kiwi1969
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601 posts in 341 days
posted 171 days ago
The paint looks great, and a if not a marble top then why not granite? Any chance of a pic showing the flour bins open, I wouldn,t mind something like this myself.
-- if the hand is not working it is not a pure hand
flcopper169
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172 posts in 238 days
posted 170 days ago
Thanks for all your encouraging comments. I tried everything to get around painting the wood since I’m typically not a huge fan of painted wood. Though in some applications it looks great and is entirely appropriate. I think this is one case where that’s true. I even tried to add some faux graining but it just didn’t look right. I did the faux graining on a cheap island we picked up on craigslist for $70. It had a maple edge grain BB top and I just kept playing with stain and paint combinations to get the look I wanted. It now looks like a rich deep wood and is the bath vanity in our guest bath. I”m not “old furniture” knowledgable but am drawn toward the lines of a piece more then anything else. I absolutely LOVE re-purposing pieces in my home. For me, that process allows each piece to tell a story. My wonderful and prudent husband won’t let me work with his power tools as I tend to dive into things and he’s appropriately cautious. I thoroughly enjoy browsing with him through many of the amazing projects you all post. What a talented and supportive board!
-- Happy and safe woodworking, Flcopper169@aol.com