I know it’s a little early, but my husband is away and school is out, and I have time now, so I had better take advantage! And yes, I do now about the publish feature, but the last time I selected a punlish time, my post never showed up. So I don’t have faith in it. Anyhow, with our family room redo and then Emmy’s candy shoppe party, I was worried I wouldn’t have anything to share with you this week! But fear not! I have a makeover and it’s totally different from anything else I have done.
My friend Kerry brought me this coffee table a couple weeks ago…
Pardon the sideways shot, but this thing is big and heavy! Kerry wanted to lighten it up, but the stain on the wood was pretty dark. To get it down to the bare wood would have taken hours of sanding. and even then I am not sure that the final product would have been quite right. Kerry’s style is very Anthropologie meets Restoration harware, so I suggested we go with a faux finish and layer different stains. She told me just to have at it and do what I thought would be best. The good news is that if it didn’t turn out quite right, she could bring it to their new beach house and use it there. I sanded the hard finish off of it, and then gave it a coat of Kilz Green start primer. When i put the primer on I played with it a little to give it more graininess and character. I did this by waiting for it to dry a little and then rubbing with a rag.
Once that was dry, I got to work with layers of stains… All of these were brushed on with a brush and then rubbed around a little with a rag following the grain of the wood. All were cabot stains found at my local habitat Re-store… I started with Dark Gray solid stain, then added a layer of Dune Gray in semi-solid, and finished this part off with a layer of Linen in semi-solid. Once the last layer was dry (they dry VERY quickly by the way since they are water-based so you have to work fast), I distressed the edges, and sanded the top smooth with a very fine sandpaper. Then I applied a coat of Minwax golden oak just to warm the finish. once that was dry, I worked on the black metal base. I sanded some of the sheen off of that by hand. I should have taken a picture of my hands afterwards- they were covered in fine black dust and disgusting! I wanted to give it more of a silver finish. I found a bottle of “Sophisticated finishes” in a antique pewter, and used that- giving the base 3 coats applied with a foam brush. After the first coat, I tested an area as I was nervous it wouldn’t stick to the metal, but it did! It wouldn’t scratch off- hooray! The table is ready for pick up but Kerry is away- I can’t wait for her to come see it. And the good news is, if she doesn’t like it, it looks perfect in my family room… see? Oh my wheels are turning now- don’t tell my husband!
