Friday, May 7, 2010

Farmhouse Coffee Table Upcycle

I found this smallish farmhouse table at the local thrift shop a little while ago. I loved the turned legs but not the yellowish "glaze" that was dripping down them. At a $10.00 price tag I decided to go ahead and upcycle this baby! (Still not sure how so many gals in blog land find their curbside treasures)


So, I began what turned out to be an arduous process of removing the paint and stain. The finish on this piece was like armor! it just couldn't be budged. I was using a paint remover that was "safe on antiques" and took "30 minutes" to do it's work. After 3 days of working on it for a few hours each day, I gave up. Most of the paint was removed from the legs, but not all. Luckily, all of the finish off the top came off.


After adding a bit more character to the table with my awl, hammer, and a screw, I stained the top with Minwax Provincial stain and painted the legs. I used the stain as a glaze on the paint and then two coats of sealant. The sealant is water based and I was warned that you have to use very little and move quickly so that your glaze work doesn't dissolve and move around on you. So I tried to do that...but sure enough I had stain dripping down the legs. I almost cried...but since it was one of my first projects of many that I have planned, I decided that it was ok to not be perfect. My first project was fine...but I used a different brand of stain... so I am wondering if Minwax isn't the best to use as a glaze; so if you have any experience with it, I would love to hear from you!

But after all the heartache...I ended up loving this little piece of art!

Here is a closeup of a leg. You can see where I sanded down through the teal paint to the bare wood and how this exposed the white paint that did not get removed. After all the hard work trying to get the paint off..I'm glad that some remained, because I like the way the distressing turned out.

11 comments:

Kristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating said...

Love how it turned out! I can't seem to get enough turquoise lately.

Kristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating said...

Oh, and I just used Minwax as a glaze on this piece:

http://blog.addicted2decorating.com/2010/05/finished-dresser-chest-of-drawers-and.html

I used oil based stain, and just brushed on, wiped off. I didn't use a sealer, but if I had chosen to seal it, I would have used a spray, rather than something that had to be brushed or wiped on.

Julie said...

Hi!

I found your site through ShabbyNest and LOVE your coffee table! Awesome job! Just thought I'd throw out my 2 cents...I recently found my first thrify find, a coffee table too, and stained the top like yours and painted the bottom cream. I used Minwax and had a really hard time with it but thought it was because I didn't know what I was doing. Last week, I stained an armoire for my mom using some gel stain she already had from a Benjamin Moore store. The difference was night and day! I think on my next project I will try the brand my mom had or something different than Minwax.

:)

Joanne Kennedy said...

I think you did a super job! Great deal you got too! I'm with you though, I don't know where these people live to find such great finds on the side of the road.

Hugs,
Joanne

Meredith said...

Hey Stephanie! Thanks for stopping by to say hi yesterday. Your teal table looks AWESOME! Great job :)

Meredith @ Welcome to Heardmont

luvmy5boyscora said...

I LOVE how this turned out! I just this weekend picked up a coffee table at a 2nd hand store very similar to this one. The legs are hunter green though and I would love to change them to turquoise. Do you mind sharing what color/paint you used? Thanks and have fun with your future projects. :)

Jason said...

Cora - it is a specialty paint...and I can't think of the brand name right now. But you can't get it at Lowes or anything like that. The name of the color is Society Hill. Maybe if you google that?? Good luck with your table! Down with hunter green!!

Adrienne said...

I totally understand why I can't find those awesome curbside treasure...I live in the sticks and we don't have any curbs. : ) But at least you can find awesome thrift store treasures! If it's not made of particle board or from Ikea it's $100's of dollars at our local thrifts! Hasn't stopped me from looking though. Great job!

Anj said...

I'm sooo digging this. The color is adorbs! I need a coffee table... it has been the one piece of furniture that I haven't been able to decide upon. Urrgghh. But this... the wheels are a turnin'. Thanks for a little inspiration.

You are a riot. Thanks for all the comments on my blog. Each one brought a smile to my face.
Wow... and I made it to the side bar. Awesome!
Have a great weekend!!!!

Kenzie said...

Your table is absolutely gorgeous! The colors are perfect! Thanks for stopping by and helping me with my dilemma today!

RedHeadedStepChild said...

$10, you are magical! I loved it before, and after! Great eye!

www.thatredheadedstepchild.com