Wow. This one took me back a few years. I bought this thing before I met Zorak. Picked it up for $30 at a junk shop. It was stained with a dark, dark stain that was probably meant to have a "luxurious, rich wood" look. It made the table look black. The top was smokey glass. (Hey, I was childless, okay? Glass-topped furniture didn't seem like too bad an idea, as long as you kept the drunks away from it.) Granted, it wasn't "just the thing" to set off my wicker living room furniture (also bought dirt cheap at a junk shop - this is a theme, with me), but it worked.
Zorak and I stripped it and refinished it in '98. We fell in love with the wood grains, although the top never made us say "wow". Still, you go with what you've got. It lived happily with our small family until we began to worry that James would fall through the smokey glass and bleed uncontrollably, at which point, the table went into the garage.
Fast forward three years. Two children, and another on the way. We really needed a living room table, so the boys and I decided we'd tile the table top. Zorak didn't think we'd do it, but once it became evident we would, in fact, go through with it, he got involved with the structural engineering aspect of the design and the coffee table became a Whole Family Project. (He loves me, and part of that love includes knowing my limitations. I will come up with ideas galore, and they'll be beautiful! But I'm not likely to do the math with regard to weight limits, structural integrity, or water drainage. It'll be lovely, but someone *could* die if Zorak doesn't step in and help.) So, he helped, and we got a great table!
Our little Family Table lived a fairly normal life, until we bought this place. (Also a theme for us, and most of our belongings!) And so, it has languished in the basement, unseen and uncared for, for a little over two years. Construction debris, dust, spiders, paint thinner, primer, stripper, sawdust... you name it, this table's been hit with it in the past two years. It was lookin' a little poor last week...
Fortunately, however, it cleaned up beautifully, and is now back among the living! Another project completed.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
p.s. - the lines on this piece are the ones we replicated in some of our other projects. :-)
11 comments:
You better quit blogging your productiveness. Especially your productiveness WITH children involved. I've always admired how you guys incorporate the kids into everything and seem so graceful about it! And everything comes out so beautiful!
My New Years resolution was to finish one project a weekend and this weekend is the living room wall, before the church comes and moves a piano in next Sunday. How's that for unexpected motivation? hehe
Wow That is a lovely table. Does it have teethmarks on the edge? That's how we know a piece of furniture is loved here- the Boy's teeth came in the same time he was learning to walk, and he teethed on our coffee table, sigh.
Good work! Your project posts are quite inspiring!
LB
Uh-oh. You've got me eyeing both our coffee tables which are both junk shop finds themselves. Actually, I think they are garage sale finds handed down from family members. Whatever. They're in baaaad shape. So, did you refinish it or use that wonder product you mentioned a while back? What about the chair?
Very nice! I am seriously starting to feel like a major slacker. Wow! You guys have been really busy!
I can't wait to see what your blogging project will be tomorrow...maybe something you've been working on the last few months? ;-)
mere
Mere, LOL! It took me a full three minutes to figure out what you were talking about! D'oh! Tomorrow, my friend. At 2:30, to be exact. (But I can't blog it from town, so you'll have to wait til evening. Sorry.)
Oh, Jenni - DO IT! DO IIIIITTTT! It's fun! The first time, we did the full strip and put on Danish Oil Finish. I love that stuff, and I love the medium finish it gives. However, it will. not. dry. out. here. OMG, you wouldn't believe the nightmare of gunk it becomes! So when I cleaned it this last time, I scrubbed it down with a very mild TSP solution, and then used the mahogany Restor-A-Finish on it. Same thing w/ the chair. I love TSP, too. :-)
LB, LOL - no, no teethmarks. That's so cute, though. I do have a lovely pair of handprints on the upholstery of one of the barstools. They're egg yolk, and that grosses me out, but they're EmBaby's and they are so perfectly clear that I can't bring myself to take the Green Machine to them. :-)
J-Lynn - are you going to blog before/after shots of the wall? I HOPE SO. But if you don't, please at least email me some, okay?
As far as having the kids involved. Well, why not? This is why we had them - to enjoy them. And, as luck would have it, we really do enjoy doing projects with them. I guess if it was frustrating or harrowing, we probably wouldn't. Not sure if this is a chicken/egg question... hmmm. Kids are just really creative and fun. (Like the mosaic on the table? Blue tile and green grout - I SO would not have picked that. But it works! Who knew? Evidently, the 2yo and the 4yo! LOL!)
Thanks for all the encouragement, guys. I hope it encourages you all, too, to tackle the things that have been waiting (lurking?) for the right moment. Enjoy this life - it's the only one we'll get, right? :-)
Dy
Oh my goodness! We also have a coffee table that had a glass top. The top got shattered when one of the boys' friends sat on it, and we also tiled ours! I love the tile so much more than the glass, which was a nightmare of fingerprints always.
Your finished projects are very inspiring. Actually, as soon as I saw your post on the WTM board, I got off my lazy duff and finished putting away the Christmas decorations. I started that, ummm, New Year's Day, and hadn't gotten around to finishing, LOL. Now--what to do for tomorrow?! : )
Wow!! That is really incredible.
Very pretty, Dy. I never would have thought to tile a glass pane coffee table. We used to have one, but I got rid of it with the birth of our first kid. Too many nightmare thoughts of cut and bleeding small child! We replaced it with a nice sturdy one from IKEA (with little cubbies underneath) that is absolutely perfect for our family right now. I love it! We have little wicker baskets in the cubbies to hold all the little kid toys. :)
I'm enjoying your project blogging. More, more!
Wow! That came out really beautiful. And it does have lovely curves, just like that beautiful coat rack! You guys are amazing! You mean that stuff like the chew marks in our coffee table left ten years ago by a puppy are repairable, if one only has a little get-up-and-go?
Melora, totally repairable. If it's solid wood, it's significantly easier than if it's a laminate or veneer. A little sandpaper, a little elbow grease, and then a little finishing and Voila! you're good!
Emily, you've heard that necessity is the mother of invention? Yeah. She is. We had neither an IKEA, nor the money to go to one at the time. I think it was good for us, though. We learned a lot.
Dy
Wow. This one takes ME back awile, too. Is it possible that I REMEMBER that first post??? Is it??Am I thinking of something else?? Anyway, I love all the work you guys are getting done. But-hey-wait a minute....aren't you pregnant or something???
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