Monday 9 February 2009

Before and after: coffee table


Exhibit one: a coffee table which needs some serious work.

I bought a printer's tray at a now-defunct antique shop in Clapham, London, and asked a carpenter to source some distressed wood to make a table around it. I had this made around seven years ago.

My taste changed over time, and I didn't really like the wood - I have a particular aversion to pine. I have recently had dark wooden floors laid, and so I decided to paint the coffee table dark grey to co-ordinate with the floor. At some point I might get this remade in a darker wood, and the table made larger, but painting it seemed like a good plan for now. This was my first ever furniture renovation project.

I never got around to having glass cut for the top of the table, and consequently all kinds of things spilled on the letters over time.

Can you spot my name in here? We managed to spell out the names or initials of all of my immediate family within the tray.

The wood had to be waxed to keep it looking good, which I never got around to very often, hence the number of ring stains from cups.

I taped it up with masking tape, sanded it down and painted a wood undercoat on the wood.


Then, I realised that using paint, rather than a stain or wax, shows up every imperfection.


So, then I went a bit crazy going over every little ridge, sanding them back again, filling them and basically starting all over again...

I have never used wood filler before, so I got a little carried away and used much more than I needed to. There were a lot of holes to fill in.


I then painted it with two coats of eggshell, cleaned all the letters with Fairy liquid and water, and white spirit. I finally got around to getting some toughened glass cut for the top.



I'm very pleased with the result.

15 comments:

Abby said...

Great little makeover on your table! How creative!

Anonymous said...

Wow, it looks great--I really like it! the letters on the top make it so unique and I think the grey really helped to update it a little bit.

Char said...

wow - very cool. I love it

inkWELL Press said...

Love it - such a great idea. I have a printer's tray that I've had forever but didn't feel like hanging it anymore. This is so smart!

Rachel said...

Oh my god, it's amazing! I love it.

Tina { Luphia Loves... } said...

wow it looks amazing! the colour is gorgeous and that printer's tray centre is just stunning

oh, hello friend. said...

this is simply AMAZING!
i adore it and am a little envious ;)
but congrats - it is a lovely one of a kind piece and so charming with all the letterpress letters!

Lizzy said...

Such a cool revamp! Very inspiring.

Jackie said...

This turned out great Lynne! Love the color you chose to paint it. So proud of you-you have given me courage to go ahead and try a little re-do myself. I am always afraid that I will mess things up, but I need to just jump in there and do it.

Jess Constable said...

What a great makeover! I usually am a fan of the "makeunder" - hence my blog title, but that is a huge improvement :)

-Jess!
MakeunderMyLife.com

Brittany | the Home Ground said...

Those letters are awesome!! And the gray looks way better :)

Anonymous said...

I LOVE your table!!! What a great weekend project to finish :) Even without any waxing on the letters, it looks fantastic.

Brown Button Trading said...

WOW!!! and I can't even get around to painting mine, let alone creating such a masterpiece - well done darling! x

Apt. #34 said...

So lovely! Will you come do mine?? :)

Anonymous said...

This is awesome! Well done, and can I have one? So, so cool.