Pages

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Craig's List Side Table


Craig's List is a great source for finding deals on furniture.


I loved the cute shape of this table and the price was right since it needed a lot of work.  The legs were wobbly and the finish looked like a cat used it as a scratching post.  There was a square shaped paint "stain" on the top.  It was also just plain dirty.  My guess is it had been in storage in someone's garage, barn, or various other outbuilding for many years.  It had spiderwebs and their eggs sacks still attached.  But if you're looking for a good deal, you have to look past all that.


The first thing I did was clean it up with mineral spirits.  You know, get all the dust and spider residue off...



Next I stabilized the legs by tightening the existing screws where the top of the legs met the base of the top.  These were pretty rusty so I had to use a wrench, not just my hands.




I used wood glue where the bottom of the legs had detached from the base piece.  I secured the legs with some bungee cord since I didn't have any clamps on hand.  I let the wood glue dry overnight to make sure I wouldn't have any more issues with wobbly legs.  And voila!  The next morning the table was finally stable.

I went back and forth about painting or staining.  I knew this piece would look great either way but in the end I decided on paint.  There's a lot of stained wood in my house so I thought adding a painted piece would be a nice change.


I lightly sanded the piece then painted it with MMS Milk Paint in Linen.  After the second coat was dry, I used a plastic putty knife to remove the paint where it was pulling away from the surface of the table.  I then used MMS Antique Wax and let it sit for about 5 minutes before buffing off the excess wax.


This is the first piece that I've done with Milk Paint and I'm pretty pleased with the result.  My husband said, "That looks like those expensive pieces at the junk stores you drag me to."  High praise indeed!




Linking with:
Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesday
Miss Mustard Seed - Furniture Feature Friday

3 comments:

  1. Looks awesome...great idea using bungee cords! I'll have to remember that. Enjoy your day, Gail

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gorgeous well done, I want to try milk paint!

    ReplyDelete