A Tale of Two Tables

So...as most of you know--because most of you reading this blog at this stage know me personally--I'm currently unemployed and I've been that way for about a month. And, as most of you know, a month is a long time to leave me with little to nothing to do everyday. (Furniture gets rearranged, hair gets cut/dyed, stairs get ran--lots and lots of stairs...)And a blog usually gets started, though often deleted. This time is no different, except this time I'm starting a blog about something that I'm actually doing and not just talking nonsense about books, music, movies, games and pop culture in general, though those will probably pop up. I am going to try to write a blog that shows you some of the furniture refinishing projects that I am working, including some of the ones that I've done in the past for myself and ones that I am working on currently to sell or for friends and family. I'll try to update as I get a chance and as I work on projects, so it would be best to follow just to get updates on when something new is up. :) Right now, because I'm unemployed, I can do projects at a bit faster rate, but once I get a job, then projects will slow down...just warning you guys. Anyway, without further discussion....the first blog post!

On Wednesday, I put the last coat of polyacrylic topcoat on a dropleaf table for my friends Ariadna and Tommy. Ari and I found the table at a flea market in Fayetteville and knew it would be perfect for her and Tommy's apartment because the dropleaf style condenses down so well. As you can see below, it was originally a dark wood with some carving on the top and leaves, plus eight--believe me, eight!--turned legs.

The wood was pretty beat up, including a burn mark in the shape of what looked like a trivet, so it needed to be painted. (I'm always hesitant to try to stain wood with lots of scratches and marks, your end product can turn out inconsistent.) Ari and Tommy wanted a neutral color that would go well with all the dark wood in their apartment. They settled on a Behr paint color called Crepe in an eggshell finish, which should stand up to wear and tear well.

Furniture usage is important to remember for all pieces. Would this piece have looked great distressed and/or in a more vibrant, on-trend color? Sure, but this is a family dining table for a young couple and so it needs to be more classic and functional than anything else. So here's a breakdown of what I did for this table:

• Light sanding (220 grit) to help smooth out the painting surface
• One coat of primer
• 3 coats of latex paint
• 2 coats of polycrylic on legs and drawers and 3 coats on the top

Here's a picture of the table in Ari and Tommy's apartment:

Seems like a lot of work for one table, right? 

Well, meet my dining table...my very first furniture painting project.

While it seems very similar to the one I just did for Ari and Tommy--drop leaf with turned legs--it took me about  four times longer. (Also, I did it outside. On my porch. In July.) Here's what I did for my table:

• stripped 7 coats of paint 
• sanded to smooth out the painting surface
• 3 coats of latex paint + primer
• 3 coats of polycrylic

Here's the thing about this table. It's a family piece that's been in the family since the 1930's. The family has painted it many times through the years, but it had only been stripped once before--sometime in the seventies by my dad. So the bulk of my time--I'd say almost a full 3 weeks--on this piece was spent in stripping the paint off of the table and sanding it smooth. 

I'm sure there's an important lesson in there, probably something about patience or doing it right the first time. However, I'd say that the lesson is to only refinish pieces that don't need paint stripped and have lots of modern clean lines. 

Hopefully, I'll have an update later this week on my nightstands and some other projects.