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This is one of my favourite transformations so far. Sure, it’s not very fancy and won’t blow your mind though I just adore the unpretentious lines and character-filled patina of this piece.
Here’s the table before, looking very lonely and feeling sorry for itself:
And now:
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Originally a teacher’s desk, this old table was missing its drawer and had quite a heavily ‘distressed’ finish after years of service. I found it on eBay for $10 – score!
After an initial tidy up and light all over sand the drawer cavity was filled by gluing and caulking in a piece of scrap timber – much easier and faster than making a whole new drawer. Once dry, two drawer fronts (which I already had thanks to my junk hoarding!) were then glued and clamped over the timber infill to create faux drawers.
One coat of acrylic primer, two acrylic top coats, a light distress and then an acrylic seal coat followed by the addition of two turned timber knobs completes the look of the base.
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The honey-toned timber top was badly worn and looked tired though I really wanted to retain its character so I needed to enhance and add depth to the patina. After a light sand, three score lines were added to give the appearance of old boards (you can read that tutorial here) then a diluted walnut stain was wiped on and allowed to seep into all the grooves, marks and gouges before being wiped off.
The stain helps mute the overall tone yet creates subtle variations which gives the timber a tactile appeal. Looking at beautiful old wood like this just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy!
The top was finished with two coats of danish oil. I can’t sing the praises of danish oil highly enough. It’s super easy to apply, provides a protective coating and gives a mellow lustre which is hard to achieve with regular sealers – love it!
Again, just cause I can, here are the before and afters:
I know, probably not to everyone’s taste (and certainly much too cool to fit in at my little cottage) though I love the eclectic edge and character items like this can bring to a space.
I left the patina in pretty much original condition – which, for pieces like this, really is the essence of their appeal, all that banged-up and rusted metal telling the proud story of a former life.
I stencilled the retro typographics for that little eye-catching point of distinction.
With no-where for this piece to live at my place it was recently sold by auction on eBay.
Eeek! Squeel! An absolutely adorable vintage card file cabinet. And now it’s mine!
At only 1.1 meters deep x 1.6 meters wide (3.5 x 5.2 feet) my tiny entryway doesn’t even rate a mention on the floor plan! An inch either side of the photo below and you’re straight into the living room or hallway.
Sorry, I don’t have a before pic though if you can imagine a little undressed space with worn beige berber carpet, timber toned trim and a dirty apple green wall that’s pretty much it!
I knew early on that I wanted wallpaper somewhere in my house and this space seemed the perfect candidate – its location is discreet enough not to dictate the tone for the entire house though perfectly positioned to create a nice first impression.
We painted the trim white and re-carpeted then waited for an appropriately priced and proportioned piece of furniture to come along. You see, when the front door is opened it leaves a clearance of only 30cm (12 inches) so whatever I chose needed to be accordingly narrow. Eventually, a lovely weathered cedar console showed up – perfect! I had envisioned all white against the wallpaper though the tone in this table seemed just right as is.
I must confess, I change the decor around in my home ALL THE TIME (much to hubby’s annoyance) though currently have the console adorned with clearance and thrift store finds, fresh lavendar and rosemary, some re-purposed knick-knacks and a few special pieces.
