Two-Tone Table, revisited

My love for farmhouse tables continues unabated, but I took a little break from that style this past week or so.

When I showed you the Wide Farmhouse Table I made for my friend Stacy, I mentioned that I had previously refinished another table for her, but it was looking a little worse for the wear after a few years with a family of boys!

My job was to make it beautiful again.  What do you think?

Here’s what it looked like when I got it:

And here’s what it looked like after the first re-finish job:

After some good hard family use, there were some real problems:

Not sure why my cell phone photos look a little blue!  Anyway, there was chipped paint, naturally.  And then the finish on the top of the table went very cloudy in places.  I blame an inferior polyurethane I got from Ace Hardware (sorry, Ace), as that is the only time I’ve ever used it, and I hated it even then!  I actually still had the same can in my stash…I have now gotten rid of it! 

I chose to use CitriStrip to get rid of the old poly, rather than sanding it down.  There really was no need to go back to bare wood, as I still liked the original colors underneath.

I did, however, refresh the color with a new coat of stain before putting on the polyurethane.  This time I used three coats of Minwax Hand-rubbed Polyurethane in Satin, followed by one coat of paste wax.

The chairs got a light sanding, and then I repainted with oil-based paint this time.  It tends to be a little more long-wearing, I think.  I recovered the seats in this pretty fabric.  You know I’m a sucker for typography!!

I love how the leaves on this table tuck away neatly underneath.  Pull them both out, and you have another 30” of table space!  Such a great feature.

I adore the legs on this piece…

I am so glad I got to be the one to give this set a THIRD life!

I have to say…it really looked gorgeous in my dining room!  It was hard to let it go…again!

What do you think??  Is there room in your life for both rustic farmhouse tables and beautiful antiques?  There is in mine!

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	Mod Vintage Life

Grand Rustic X Buffet

The weeks leading up to Thanksgiving were SO busy….

I was working on three huge building projects.

Finishing up another table (pictures to come)….

Building another woven-back bench (this time out of cedar…it smelled SO good)…

and working on this buffet for the new owners of the Grand Truss Table.

I kept thinking that when we got back from our Thanksgiving trip, I would have a day or two to just DO NOTHING.

Who was I kidding??

When I got back from Thanksgiving, it really hit me….there’s only THREE WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

I’m seeing all these homes beautifully decorated for Christmas and all these holiday projects, and my house was still stuck in fall mode!

So I started hauling out the Christmas boxes, and at least for one day…I “Christmas-ified” one little corner of the home….

This buffet is a modification of Ana White’s Rustic X Buffet.   I used 4x4’s for the legs to match the chunky style of the Grand Truss table, which is why I’m calling it a “Grand” Rustic X Buffet!   The horizontal cross-pieces are made from 2x4’s to match the extra thickness of the legs, and the top used one extra 2x6.  I also changed the measurements to make this buffet 72” wide.

The finish is two thick coats of Minwax Special Walnut stain, followed by an over-glaze of black for some extra depth.  The visible hardware is all decorative.

This will go to its new home this weekend…hopefully I can get some of the rest of my house decorated by then!

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Grand Truss Table & Benches

This could be the one.

Really.

The number of tables that have come and gone in my dining room since the beginning of the year has become a little bit of a joke.

I think this makes seven.

And the funny part is…this one won’t be staying either!

I built this as a custom order for a woman I met at the October Market, but I’m not sure I want to let it go!

This thing is huge—8 feet long!  (That’s why it’s “Grand.”)

The benches are 80” each, and it easily seats 10 people with chairs at the ends—you could squeeze 12 in if they’re friendly!  The benches are an adaptation of Ana White’s Providence bench. 

The table…well, it was a bit of an adventure.  I started out looking at the Providence Table plans, but I knew I wanted a chunkier base…and the plan page directed me to Design Confidential plans.  Unfortunately, the plans from Design Confidential are not as well-written as Ana’s plans, plus some of the measurements are just plain…wrong.  I had to do a little “winging” of things as I went along.

After my table was done, I found that Ana White does have her own 4x4 truss table plans here.  Oh, how I wish I had realized that at the beginning; it would have saved me a grand headache!  But I guess I can say that mine is an “original!” 

The other big change for this table is the color.  I have been playing with light, old, weathered looks for all the others, and I loved them….

….but I think my heart really lies with dark.  My customer wanted a very dark Pottery Barn-esque finish, I think I achieved it, with FOUR coats of Minwax Antique Walnut, mixed with a little ebony here and there (not a separate coat) for depth of color.  The staining and finishing took FOR.EV.ER, but it was totally worth it in the end.

You can also get a glimpse of exposed hardware on this table.  Rather than use pocket holes (which is problematic on 4x4 lumber anyway), I used 5-inch lag screws to attach the beams together.  It just adds to the rustic quality, I think.

The only way I can reconcile myself to giving up this table is knowing that I can build another one…for me!  Plus, 8-feet is really too big for my dining room, darn it.

I’ll just enjoy looking at it until it goes to its new home!

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Ombre Stained Dressers

I have been busy building a massively heavy table and two benches over the last couple of days, and I have the sore muscles to prove it!  It is beginning to all come together…today I just need to go buy some wood for the bench tops, and then I’ll be ready to sand, sand, sand…and start the finishing process.

So this morning I’m pulling up a couple of pieces that I sold at the October Market.  My crummy cell phone photos are the best I could do—the weather never was nice enough in the days before the Market to get decent pictures!

I found these two matching chests at Goodwill.  I do have a little weakness for mid-century furniture…I love the clean lines of it, although I don’t imagine its something I will ever use in my own home.  But that’s why I refinish furniture, so I have an excuse to PLAY with pieces I would never keep for myself!

My idea for what to do with these dressers evolved over time.  Originally I was going to do an ombre paint treatment in shades of gray, but after I sanded off the old finish, I decided to try stain.

Then my first try of staining was a bust.  Although I used three different colors of stain, they all came out looking the same!

Some flaws in the finish led to me trying again, and the next time I chose three REALY different colors of stain!

The bottom is Ebony, the middle is English Chestnut, and the top is Natural (all Minwax brand).

I love how the pattern of the wood grain is consistent down the front of the drawers.  It makes it easy to know which drawers go together!

They make a nice pair, don’t you think?  I sold them to a lady who was going to use them in an attic bedroom space where the walls are short…a perfect fit!

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Treadle Table

Several weeks ago I went to an estate sale.  As I was poking around the dark dusty corners in a shed, I found a treasure….

Covered in YEARS of grime and dust, home to approximately 764 spiders, it was beautiful to me!
I have NO idea how long it must have sat out there, only marginally protected from the elements.  You can see that the finish was shot and the drawers were falling out…

…but the base was intact.  I took the cabinet off, cleaned up the base, and then freshened it up with a new coat of paint.

Inspired by Full Circle Creation’s sewing base remake, I built a new top with a shelf underneath.  I just think it makes the whole thing just a little more useful (wouldn’t it make a great nightstand for one of those tall beds?).

And because I can’t live without my old graphics…I used this vintage clothing ad from the Graphics Fairy to dress up the top.  I was trying to make it look like an old crate or something!

I love the combination of wood and metal in so many things!  Wish I had a place in my house for this one.

This is actually the second sewing base I have remade like this, inspired by Holly.  The first one sold at the Barn Sale before I had a proper picture of it, but you can get a glimpse here (I used this Graphics Fairy image):

Which one do you like better?

Note:  I've had some questions about the transfer method I used...well, I didn't use one.  I used my Silhouette machine to create a vinyl stencil out of the Graphics Fairy images, and then I painted the images on.

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Multi-colored Console Table

My garage has been SO full of rehab projects that I have had neither the time nor the space to build anything for a while!  Last week after I finally got most of what needed to be done…well, done…it moved into the house for a while and I squeezed out a few square feet of space to build.

I loved this rustic console / buffet table I built a few months ago, and I have wanted to make another one.  The plans for this one came from the Sawdust Girl. 

I finished the top and legs with a custom gray/brown stain mix, but then I used a little ebony stain on the edges for a more weathered look.

My favorite part is this center shelf.  I came across a whole bunch of 5” strips of plywood in the scrap pile at Lowe’s.  I bought the whole lot of it for just such a project as this!

I ripped each strip in half, so mine are about 2.5” wide.  I nailed a cleat around the inside of the shelf so I could lay the strips neatly in place.  The fun part, of course, was using multiple stains for the plywood…I used ebony, golden pecan, mahogany, and dark walnut.  Then a few of them got a wash of teal paint.  There is no rhyme or reason to their placement…I just went with what looked good to me.

I’m really happy with how it turned out, and anxious to do something similar with the rest of the plywood!

Just have to clear space in my garage…again!

This project has been featured at Elizabeth & Co. and Coastal Charm.

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Three-Tone Dresser

My dear parents were visiting us all last week, so I’m a little behind on projects…but I wouldn’t trade my time with them for anything!  This is the first time they’ve been able to come see us since we moved last Christmas.  My mother is in very poor health and it is particularly difficult for her to travel so I don’t know how many opportunities like this we will have.  She kept fretting that she was “keeping me” from getting ready for my next show…but I reminded her of one of the greatest lessons she ever taught me…

People are always more important than things!

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So here’s a project that I actually finished several weeks ago; it has already gone on to a new home.  I did get to enjoy it in my dining room for a little while!

It was a garage sale find that was meant to be mine!  It was in remarkably good shape…it had the original casters (love those), all the pulls, no missing veneer, etc.  The only thing it was missing was the little metal drawer stops that keep the drawers from sliding all the way back…a few partially-exposed screws took care of that!

I thought the wood veneer on the drawers was too pretty to cover up.  the top drawer is something like curly maple…I think…while the bottom drawers are walnut.  I am no expert, so I could be totally off here!

Although I used the same antique walnut stain on all the exposed wood, I wipe it off very quickly on the top drawer to highlight the difference.

The body was painted in Sherwin Williams Creamy, and lightly distressed and glazed.  I love the contrast of the paint and the stain!

You can see another two-tone dresser I finished last year here.  I don’t think this one will be the last!

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The “Free” Waterfall Chest of Drawers

Have you ever surfed the “free” category on Craigslist?  Well don’t.  It’s addicting! 

The siren call of getting something for nothing can be hard to overcome.  I know, because I spent several weeks checking it obsessively for something wonderful.

The hard part is, if you’re not willing to get in the car and go someplace RIGHT NOW, you’re going to miss out on the wonderful stuff.

And mostly, the wonderful stuff…really isn’t.

As my mother said, “If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is!”

But here’s my story!

This is the end result of a pretty little waterfall dresser I picked up FOR FREE! 

When the ad popped up, I excitedly e-mailed the owner, only to find that it had already been spoken for.  <sigh>  Much to my delight, the freeloader before me prior interested party was a no-show, and I was next on the list!

This is what it looked like when I got it.

Not bad, right?  There were a few chips and dings, and the finish was old and faded, but all the drawers and hardware were there…I picked it up without looking a gift horse in the mouth!

When I got it home, the hidden problems became apparent.  A couple of the drawers were pretty much held together with spit and baling wire, and I think all the drawer guides, slides, and whatsits were missing.

But the exterior was really in such good condition that I couldn’t bring myself to paint it!  So instead, I sanded off the old finish coat and used General Finishes Gel Stain to bring the wood back to life.

Look at this detail!

The problem was that fixing the drawers to work properly was really beyond me.  I could cobble them back together so contents didn’t fall out the cracks, but I really didn’t have a clue how to construct new wood slides and guides.

So this was a piece I chose NOT to take with me to the barn sale.  It did go to a new home via Craigslist yesterday, but of course I had to be completely honest about the condition of the drawers.  I felt bad that I couldn’t really restore it to full usefulness and beauty.

But hey…it cured me of cruising the “free” category on Craigslist…at least for a little while!

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