Remember this beautiful coffee table in my living room?
The Husband made it for me.
He crafted it from an vintage nine-paned door.
I fell in love with it when he first unveiled it to me on that beautiful Christmas morning
hmmmmm....
about 15 years ago.
With my recent obsession
(one of many)
with farmhouse planked top tables,
I wanted to transform this one a bit to satisfy that recent new obsession.
I scrounged around in the barn for some old wood planks...
and came up empty handed.
None of them were the right type
or
didn't have bat poop all over them.
or
didn't have bat poop all over them.
Drat!
So, the next time I took a trip to the big city,
I made a stop at Home Depot,
chose the cheapest piece of pine board they had,
fluttered my mascaraed eyelashes at a young man with an orange apron on ~
(Gee...I hope he worked there...
I only flutter my eyelashes at people I want something from, you know)
and asked if he would cut the board down for me.
He was utterly besotted with my fluttering politely said he would,
and off I scampered with my piney scented planks.
Wanting them to look a little old and worn,
I laid them out in the basement and sanded the edges until they were uneven and rounded.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to stain or paint them.
I ended up deciding to stain them knowing that I could always paint over it.
The next question was with what color?
The next question was with what color?
I had Minwax Golden Oak, Special Walnut, and Pecan on hand.
I tried each of them on some scrap pieces of pine first
and laid them on the coffee table.
and laid them on the coffee table.
The walnut was too dark and the golden oak too yellowy.
Decision was ~~ Minwax Express Color in Pecan.
It was the perfect warm, light brown with a gray undertone.
I used a foam brush, kind of like a sponge, to spread this thick liquid on,
rubbing and scrubbing it into the grain.
After letting it dry overnight, I hauled a couple pieces upstairs, laid them on the table,
turned and walked out of the room,
and then turned back around to look at the table.
[Yes, I do this quite often when rearranging furniture, working on projects, and painting furniture. I want the "first impressions" feeling.]
I didn't like it.
It looked like a hole in the middle of the living room.
The pretty pecan color just wasn't going to work all by itself.
The pretty pecan color just wasn't going to work all by itself.
I wanted it touched with white.
Back downstairs they went,
out came out the Benjamin Moore "Ivory Tusk"
(which is the color on the rest of furniture in the house)
and I spread the creamy whiteness on.
Now, I love my BM paint. Always have. Always will. It goes on like pudding.
It's thick and rich and almost looks edible because of it's similarity in consistency to yogurt.
But distressing this latex paint is nothing like distressing chalk paint or milk paint.
I had forgotten that after working with chalk paint for so long.
Duh.
After the planks had dried over night, I got out my handy dandy little palm sander
and started sanding.
I happily sanded
and sanded
and sanded
and sanded.
I switched hands and began to mutter things under my breath as I sanded
and sanded
and sanded
and sanded.
AGH!
But slowwwwwwly the planks began to look old and loved.
I hauled them back upstairs and laid them out side by side.
I had to put the glass back on because the boards aren't screwed to the table yet
which will be done from beneath with The Husband's help.
which will be done from beneath with The Husband's help.
Then, I walked out of the room,
turned around,
looked at the table
looked at the table
and...
fell in love all over again.
I loved that the boards gave the table substance and uniformity.
Not being able to see through the glass panes, gave the room a calmer,
less busy look.
I loved that the boards gave the table substance and uniformity.
Not being able to see through the glass panes, gave the room a calmer,
less busy look.
So, of course,
I spent the better part of an hour creating vignettes on this planked loveliness.
:)
