Thursday, February 7, 2013

{Re*Made}: Bare-Naked Coffee Table

Naked Coffee Table Redo {be made designs}

I have become a big fan of my local Habitat for Humanity Restore in the past couple of years.  As a fan of theirs on Facebook, I am frequently enticed with pictures of pieces of furniture in dire need of love and a new home.

In one such case, a picture posted featuring one piece more prominently revealed another in the background that beckoned to me.

{be made designs}

I didn't need a new coffee table.  I had an old trunk that was serving that purpose just fine.  But we had recently made a few furniture revisions to our living room {which I hope to show very soon!} and the trunk wasn't floating my boat anymore.  But why fix what ain't broke?
Well, when I saw this little table, I realized something was broke, and needed fixing.  :)
It was hard to tell in the picture the exact condition of said table.  It looked half-painted/half-stained, or something of that sort.  It looked like someone had tried to love it, but gave up.  When I saw it in person, that was definitely what happened.  The table was actually half-sanded/half-stained.  And what was left stained was the more difficult parts to sand.

{be made designs}
{be made designs}

But I bought her, and brought her home, and set her in my living room, and waited for inspiration to hit me.
The longer she sat in my living room, the more I appreciated the bare woodness of her.  Most of my projects involved spray paint of some form or fashion {don't worry; this one will too} but the thought of covering up that glorious grain was disheartening.  And I couldn't decide on a color either. 
So all that pretty much made up my mind for me:  strip the stain.  Leave it natural.  Embrace the naked wood beauty.
But, going natural ain't easy.
When I first decided I was going to sand down the remaining stain, I was not looking forward to it.  With the "shelves" on this table, there were lots of nooks and crannies, plus the turned legs, to sand.  I could totally understand why whoever started this project quickly gave it up.  But once I actually got it outside and looked at the construction of the table, low and behold, the table EASILY comes apart!! Woo hoo!

{be made designs}
Once I had all the parts disassembled, sanding it was a piece of cake.  Well, except for the legs.  But I finally got them bared too, although not completely, but it's almost like they're aged, so it works, ha ha.

{be made designs}
I wanted the table to be protected {since my sweet nephew has once before spilled his Kool-Aid on my table} but I didn't want to do a poly.  So I just applied a coat of clear wax over all surfaces.  Protection with naked wood intact.  Check.

{be made designs}
Ok, here's where the spray paint comes in.  See those little spindles between the table top and the "shelves"? 
I was not going to sand those.  I had saved those little guys until the end, and was already thoroughly frustrated enough with the legs that I was not about to try to sand those little guys.  But, they were a perfect place to add in a pop of color.  I decided on red, since I have that as an accent in my house.

{be made designs}
I assembled the table as easily as I disassembled it, minus the legs.  They were in for a special treat. 
On a more recent trip to the Restore for something totally different, I literally accidentally happened upon the only 2 packages they had of these:

{be made designs}
Small furniture casters the perfect size for my coffee table legs!  My hubby and I had discussed putting casters on this coffee table so we could easily move it out of the way for Wii game night.  I had haphazardly searched my local hardware store, and then the hardware giants, but couldn't find any small enough. 
These little guys were destined for me.  I'm certain.  :)
So, we installed them on the legs, attached the legs to the table, and I'm in love!

Stripped Down Coffee Table {be made designs}
And that little pop of red is so great! 

Stripped Down Coffee Table {be made designs}
I love my new table, and I can't wait to show how it works in our new overall living room look.

{be made designs}
{be made designs}

So, whadya think?

Naked Coffee Table Before & After {be made designs}

Natural is so great, ha ha!  Hope you find some natural beauty in your life.

ta-ta for now...


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