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| Before and After |
I got this table last summer and it sat in my office for months and months because I didn't have room for it in the garage or time to refinish it. I knew in principal what I was going to do with it and I knew that I wanted to use it for the TV.
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| Beat UP! |
As you can see, I got it home last week and the top needed some special attention. I have never had a piece that was so beat up on the surface. Because it was going next to the
buffet I refinished last weekend, I decided to make them match. Obviously these pieces are different but I wanted them to coordinate.
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| Top all Sanded. Don't you love the 1970's flower detail on the drawers? |
So I sanded the top with the idea of staining it with General Finishes Java Gel which I had used on the top of the buffet. As you can see above, it sanded beautifully but I wasn't aware of how dry the wood was. If I had been, I probably would have oiled it first so the stain didn't dry out as fast as it ended up doing on me. Next up I removed the knobs which got a little brown spray paint treatment and then a removal of paint to make them look antique gold. Next the base was lightly sanded with some fine grit sand paper.
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| I hate painting spindles! |
Then I started painting the base. I hate painting spindles and had to do this super carefully, making sure to catch any drips and fix them before they dried. This is finished in the same General Finishes Milk Paint, Linen, that I did the base of the buffet in last weekend. I love this color but what I discovered about it is that I am so pleased with the way it looks without antiquing that I decided early on that this piece would not be distressed. That is a departure from my norm because I love the distressed look of pieces normally. This piece has some natural distressing due to the age of the piece and I decided to work with that only.
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| Halfway HOME! |
Once I got the base coated in three good coats of the Linen paint I sanded it slightly to remove any imperfections and added a final light coat of paint and let it completely dry. I was ready to move on to the top. I have learned something about myself this weekend, I am incredibly picky about my finish on pieces. I don't like to see any drips in my paint and I am a stickler for no brush marks. I noticed this when I was looking at on line garage sales and examining the work of other painters. I told my husband, it drives me crazy when someone spends so much energy repainting something and I can see in the photos the brush marks, splotches where paint is inconsistent, and places where the finish just doesn't look smooth. I am picky. I would end up redoing all the finished pieces I saw. This is why I do my own work, more than any other reason. I would rather customize my home and know the pieces will last.
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| Supervisors always looking on. |
Meanwhile, one of my hens decided to come supervise my work. First she checked out the sleigh bed I picked up this weekend. This piece is going to eventually end up in our spare bedroom as our guest bed, once I refinish it. It was a steal of a bargain of $0.00 because a friend called and said if I didn't come get it she was putting it in the trash. Hold up, wait! WHAT? FREE is my price of preference. The side rail needs a little work but nothing I can't fix with some L brackets. I was all like 'sign me up for free'. So I ran out to get this Saturday and put it in the garage.
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| Someone wants to ride |
Henrietta above, decided she needed to get some bike riding in and jumped up on the bike to go for a ride.
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| Or read?? |
Once she got up there however, she noticed the books and decided a 70 degree Saturday was much more of a reading day. I finally had to grab her and remove her to the backyard so I could get some work done without worrying about her getting into trouble.
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| Top soaked up the stain! |
Back to work I went staining the top. I only put one coat of Java on the top and by the time I had gotten to the end of the line, I noticed the stain had soaked right in to the wood like water. This is gel stain and it is not suppose to do that, see what I mean about the wood being dry. I am sure now that it was because the top was so scratched that the wood had simply no conditioner left to prevent this from happening. Then I debated with myself, what to do, leave it super dark or sand it down, condition it, and redo the entire top.
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| Read for the sealers |
I decided to leave it super dark and proceeded sealing the top with several coats of General Finishes High Performance top coat. Once I got a good protective layer or 10 on the top this baby and I coated the base with or two coats (I can't recall) of the same satin finish then I moved the piece inside.
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| Wax and then done |
It dried and dried and dried. I like how it looks with the buffet. I was pleased.
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| Finished for now |
So this morning I woke up, waxed the entire piece with clear wax, buffed it out and moved the TV on top. The piece is finished for now. I am going to add a shelf to the bottom to hold all the components for the TV. However, for now, because we aren't in the market for a larger TV yet, I left the old crappy stand behind it and just covered it up so it didn't look so stupid.
Here is my main problem with this room, the room is long, super duper long, actually. I have a 48 inch TV and when you sit on the sofa, it looks like a 26 inch TV. No joke! So when we get around to buying a giant TV, we will be able to move the TV back against the wall. Yes, I would love to put the TV on the wall but unfortunately, this is not going to happen. See, in this room, the wall the TV is on happens to be the same wall there is an ugly breaker box. Why they didn't remove the breaker box to the new garage when they converted the old garage is beyond my comprehension. I am a slave to someone else's home improvement laziness here folk. Maybe at some point we can move the box and I won't have this struggle. Until that time, the struggle is real.
So, what do you think? Table and buffet look awesome together don't they? Who would ever imagine these pieces started out so incredibly ugly?
Below are links for Amazon where you can find the paint I used on these pieces. Amazon affiliate links don't cost you anything additional if you purchase from them. FYI.
