Well here it is...My first attempt at refinishing furniture...I found this baby at GW for $13.02 it was originally 19.99 but they were having a 40% off all furniture special...WOW
I saw it, grabbed it and carried it with me...I knew I didn't dare leave it behind!!
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| Like the "CREEPY" picture of Autumn? More about that later!! |
As I was headed to the check out line, some kind lady stopped and asked what I was going to do with it. When I told her my plans, she asked me if I had refinished furniture before...The truth is...For a moment I wanted to say yes and act, just for once like I knew what I was doing...but true to my nature, I was totally honest.....
Which was awesome, because she called her husband over who apparently does it all the time, he told me how he would go about getting this table back to it's former glory!
Yes kids...It does always pay to tell the truth!! :)
So here is what it looked like when I bought it home that day...It had one real dark spot in the center of it...
Along with some white spots where the finish was mostly gone.....
The gentleman at the GW told me to use Formby's Furniture Refinisher to take off the finish...
It worked very well on most of it but did nothing to get the dark stain out...
So I tried bleach and a lot of sanding but only managed to lighten it some, I couldn't make it truly go away...
Afraid of ruining it, I decided enough was enough, and set it aside to stain it the following day....
Off I went to watch Autumns Volleyball game...While I was away two of my hens got in the house and ...
YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELEIVE THIS ...
One of them...well...how shall I say this... LEFT HER MARK on my little table...and if that wasn't bad enough she had been eating Blackberries ...I went back to sanding... :(
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| This is the stamp on the bottom of the table |
I got MOST the "Chicken Mark" out and was feeling a little discouraged...
When a thought suddenly came over me that made me smile....
Whoever owned this table first left their mark on it...maybe I had no right to take it away...It's part of it's history....as for my "mark", you really have to know where to look for it...But it's there...My little bit of history!! :)
I stained it with a light walnut finish after conditioning it with Pre-Stain. I was planning to put a Polycrylic finish on it but my husband talked me into using wax instead...
All and All I think it turned out pretty dang good ...If I may say so myself...the dark spot is hardly noticeable and the contrast between the Oak boarder and the Walnut is truly gorgeous!!...
I just hope the wax is good enough to protect it from anymore "accidents"!!
Well that's my story...
Thanks for listening. :)
I will be linking up to many of those wonderful parties on my side bar!
Denise
It turned out to be a beautiful table. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I am so glad I came across your post! I have a dining table with the same issues and had no idea how to go about refinishing but now I do! thank you so much for this post. :)
ReplyDeleteDo the hens go in the house often....they may want to live with the fam...LOL you would never know it was there. I love your thinking of the marks being there as part of the table....the table came out great...and now on to the story of the picture??? hmmmmm
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Ellen
what an awesome find! i've seen similar pieces on CL for tons 'o cash! well done!!
ReplyDeleteamy
This really is so beautiful! I love how you didn't give up on it and paint it. :) It's beautiful!
ReplyDeletePS I have a $50 cash giveaway going on at my blog this week. Come by when you have a chance! :)
love this!
ReplyDeleteWow, you really turned that table around! Nice work! Thanks for stopping by my blog, Jen @ www.icantstopcrafting.blogspot.com
ReplyDeletewow...how fortuitous that nice couple gave you some tips. love those lane tables and i would never know otherwise because it looks really great!
ReplyDelete~Pam
pamspaintparlor.typepad.com
Amazing, my father's old desk has the exact same kind of top on it...the two kinds of wood that fits like a puzzle. I've been afraid to refinish it just because of that; there's a gouge mark on the top where my sister burned it when we were kids and took off the burn stain (and the finish) with a knife..ugh!
ReplyDeleteI intend to brave it and I'll try the Formby's, thanks for the post.
Oooohhh, what a FABULOUS find...and even a MORE fabulous restore!! BEAUTIFUL table!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful restoration - it had wonderful potential and I would've fought you for it if I had seen it first ;)
ReplyDeleteI think that's one of my mom's tables... kidding of course but we had those exact tables when I was growing up. You have restored it beautifully! Thanks for linking up to Share the Love Wednesday--hope you'll be back this week!
ReplyDeleteMary
You did a fabulous job restoring this piece! You really can't tell that there's a stain on the piece. I wouldn't have known it was there, had you not told us about it. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking to Time Travel Thursday. Hope to see you again this week.
Blessings,
Liz @ The Brambleberry Cottage
http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/