Telephone Stand or iPhone Charger Station

This little telephone stand is the second piece I purchased on a recent trip to The Trading Post in Amherst, MA.  If you've never seen a telephone stand, imagine the old black dial up phone sitting on top and a stack of phone books stacked in the cubby below. 

 

The stand was painted brown and it was hard to see what kind of top I'd find after stripping it.  The back side featured a small cut-out in the cubby for cords. After stripping, I discovered that the top was a veneer. Oh well.  That's what makes "picking" fun!

 I decided to apply a light stain, repaint the base and call it a day.

Unfortunately, when my daughter arrived home to see the table, she asked if it would be too much trouble to paint the whole thing glossy white to go with her country cottage look. Sigh.

 

Here's the finished piece, ready to use as a night stand, perfect for an iPhone/iPad/Kindle charging station. Purchased for $15.00. Not bad.

Shabby Chic End Table

I paid a visit to The Trading Post in Amherst, MA recently looking for end tables.  This cute little pine piece was very sturdy.  It actually looks pretty good in the "before" picture, but was showing signs of its former use.

 

I applied a little stripper to the top and the drawer to see what condition the wood was in beneath all the paint.

The paint came off easily (only one coat!) revealing a honey-colored top which I decided to retain.

Because I wanted the "shabby chic" look, I did not strip and sand the edges all the way, leaving tell-tale signs of the former white paint exposed.

 A light maple varnish was applied, followed by one coat of polyurethane.

A fresh coat of glossy white paint was applied to the cabinet base and knob - and the table is now ready for its new home!

The end table was purchased for $20.00 - a bit more than I normally would pay, but Louise (The Trading Post proprietress extraordinaire) explained that August is a busy time of year when Five College Area students (Umass, Hampshire College, Smith College, Amherst College and Mt. Holyoke College) descend upon them looking for good apartment furniture. The law of supply and demand applies, making it difficult to negotiate a lower price. I still think this little piece was well worth the price and the fact that it took little time and resources to perk it up was an added benefit.

Coffee Table Surprise

I paid a visit to The Trading Post consignment shop in Amherst, MA recently to pick up a rock maple double bed frame for $40.00.  While I was there I couldn't resist looking around.  My advice if you visit? Don't rush.  You're likely to miss something hidden beneath stacked furniture or under a pile of books and dishes.  

I found this contemporary looking coffee table that I thought might work well in my daughter's apartment. She needed something long and narrow. It was painted green, but was light weight (one of my prerequisites for apartment moves).

   

 

This was definitely a stripping job as there appeared to be two or more paint layers.  I used an old brush and a non-toxic stripping gel that works really well with little odor.

 

In about half and hour as the gel bubbled up, I began to notice a red layer of paint appear. I'm not sure which color I liked least! 

 

The first two layers of paint came off very easily, exposing yet another layer of paint, this time a dull brown shade. 

 

As I exposed more of the table top I began to think that the quality of the wood wasn't so great and began to rethink my strategy.  It appeared to be a pine veneer over a plywood top and had the appearance of a wood shop project. Oh well,  it's sometimes hard to know what's really in under three coats of paint and that's part of the thrill of the hunt.

 

The question then was whether it was worth it to continue my original plan of staining the top and more stripping and sanding, or whether I should just give up and paint it again - minus the Christmas tree look.

 

After removing the brown paint I found a thin coat of polyurethane over the surface. Not to be daunted, I used a #60 sandpaper and gently began sanding it until I reached the original pine veneer. 

 

The end result wasn't bad and I decided to forge ahead with my original plan of staining the top.

 

It's hard to see in the picture above, but the first coat of maple MinWax stain was very light and required two more coats to get it dark enough and really bring out a richer patina.

 

As a last minute change, I decided to strip the table legs too. Under all that ugly green and red paint I got a little surprise - brass end pieces!  I love it when unexpected treasures appear.

Here's the completed project. I painted the legs a glossy black which really brought out the brass leg stands.  It kind of reminds me of Danish modern.  Not bad for a $10.00 investment.