Up-cycling a Vintage Treasure

One of my hobbies is furniture refinishing, especially vintage or antique pieces. Thought I would share one of my projects with you.

Last summer I found this little coffee table at a flea market and not knowing exactly what I would do with it, I bought it mainly because I loved the ball and claw feet. The woodworking on this little gem of a table is just not something you see much of any more, if at all. The table was not really my style, finished in a very shiny, dark red lacquer and had this huge water stain on it. What compelled me to buy it was beyond me, at the time. I guess it had a certain something, but by mid September it led me to a wood refinishing class. I think it was an ambitious project to start with but not really knowing what I was getting myself into, I brought it in to class. My instructor saw the detail and kinda had this dubious look on his face when I said I wanted to refinish the whole thing (as opposed to just the table top).

Well it took practically the entire twelve weeks of the course to get this done and there I went every Wednesday to pour my blood, sweat and tears into this labour of love. I had no idea how much work this would be! Stripping off three thick layers of gross lacquer, getting all the grit out of the grooves, sanding down the wood to reveal its perfect natural grain. I was shocked when I was able to sand away the water stain (or whatever it was). I actually quite loved the wood in its naked, natural finish. The lacquer covered up the beautiful grain of the wood which my teacher later taught me was called 'flame and feather'. It was quite an expensive piece in its day.

The last two weeks of the course were down to the wire but I was driven to finish the project. By the end of it I was getting super tired of preparing the wood for its new finish. I wanted to expose and enhance the beautiful wood grain and detail so my instructor recommended a fruit oil. Here the fun truly started as I slathered it on like sun bathing oil (the table that is!) and at long last the results were starting to show.

The table dried in about a day and is now sitting in my living room. I still have to get a glass made for the table top and then it will be a fully functional, beautiful, decorative piece. Besides learning how to refinish a wood table I learned that vintage treasures are the best ones you can have, fully equipped with sentimental value: with memories from the day you find it to the day it becomes a unique piece, one of a kind and unlike any other.

In the end my instructor was quite impressed with my work considering it was my very first wood refinishing project. Nothing is ever too ambitious when it becomes a labour of love.

Thanks for stopping by :)
-Lori