Saturday, August 23, 2014

Table "Face-Lift"

We needed to protect the table.... this is an oak table that I bought at a garage sale about 17 years ago for $60.00.  I have sanded and finished the top a few times... at first I did it about every year... I would do it with my little guys... everybody would have sandpaper and a homemade sanding block and we would work and work and work. I taught the kids to sand WITH the grain and not across it.  I loved using that table and wanted to keep it nice and it was a great project for the kids and I to do together. :)

 Well, after the first few years, we only refinished it every other year and then less and less. So now, it REALLY needed it.....

You can see the dings and scratches on the surface.
 It was getting pretty rough.... after all, this is our kitchen table and it is used MANY times every day for food preparation, school work science experiments, bread making, canning and for meals like breakfast and lunch and snacks and..... (with a lot of children, and many of them boys, there is a LOT of eating that goes on in our house! :) 
Spots like this were really getting bad - not only had the finish come off, but the repeated washing and liquids being spilled on the table caused it to "weather" and the gray/black color went down a few layers. Some of the black was from raw sweet potatoes that we peeled on here... we didn't realize it would stain the table... it was really time to get this table protected.



 This time, it has mainly been the project of Son #3 and he sanded and sanded. He was eager to do this project on his own....

There was a LOT of work... there was a long scratch that was a bit deep and so the sanding needed to keep going deeper. Also, the weathered spots were deep... lots of elbow grease was used on this.
 No, we didn't have a power sander, so I tried to convince him that this was good exercise for those arm muscles.... he didn't buy that, BUT.... he did do the sanding anyway. :)

Finally, after a lot of work, over several days, he was tired of the project and I helped him and so did another one of our kids. 
 We didn't stain it.... we wanted to just highlight the beautiful grain of the wood, so we just used a sealer. This is just a really old can we had left, so we used that.

We did a thin coat, then a light sanding after it dried, wiped it off good, then another coat.  We did have to switch to another can of finish. We ended up putting a total of about 6 or 7 light coats, I think.
 You can see the difference... the beautiful wood grain just shows up so nicely.
 Here is is....
 It is so much better.... the finish is strong and will protect the table again.
 I am hoping it will last and not need to be done again for several years... since we tend to be so busy, I am sure that's how long it will be before we do it again. :)
What a treat to have it all done and looking beautiful again.

Getting new things and fixing them up is one thing, but maintaining what we have is another..... it is so important, but it is much easier to put off in the day to day busyness. How nice to give well-used items a bit of a face-lift. They look better, but it also preserves the item.

We need to remember to do regular maintenance in our lives also. I find that  it is so easy to become lax in what I am doing and a regular evaluation, helps to identify areas of need.  Maybe I haven't stayed consistent with discipline with my children... or with our schedule.... or when driving.... or any number of things.  Sometimes, we need to evaluate and "re-do" some area of our life.  I have found that my kids do the best when I am consistent, but that is so hard and I slack off a bit here and there.... but I don't want to, so I need to keep checking to be sure that each area of my life honors the Lord. Then I can "shine" for Him and be useful... and beautiful in His eyes.

Thank you for visiting. :)

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Dishing It and Digging It
Scraptastic Saturdays
Vintage Charm
Tuesdays w/ a Twist
Inpsire Me Tuesday
Cooking and Crafting with j and j
Modest Mom Monday
Art of Homemaking Monday

12 comments:

  1. Looks beautiful! And I bet your son's muscles grew stronger, too!

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    1. It is so much more useful too.... and yes, I think his muscles are stronger! :) Thank you for visiting.

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  2. Fantastic job and I love how you ended your post.

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    1. Well, thank you.... what an encouraging comment. :)

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  3. The table looks outstanding. I love how something old was revived!!!

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    1. Thank you.... we sure are enjoying using it even more since it is all refinished... it is a favorite table of ours. :)

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  4. Looks amazing!

    I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/GROUPS/PLUCKYRECIPESCRAFTSTIPS/

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

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    1. Thank you... I do need to come to the facebook group again.. it has been a while. :)

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  5. That is a lovely table.
    We have a long (8' with leaves) and wide (48") table with a LOT of carving on the sides. I hate the color of it and the chairs, but having it redone would run $2500!! I could buy a new set of my choice for less than that, and I only paid $400 for it and 8 chairs. Crazy. We'll eventually strip it and redo it all, but man, I am not looking forward to that!

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    1. Oh... I would NOT be looking forward to that either... stripping carving finish will not be fun.. or fast. The reason we have done so well w/ taking care of our table is that it is flat and unadorned. Your table will be lovely when done though... $2500 sure sounds like a lot of money! Sounds like you got an amazing deal for $400 for the set... I love great finds like that even though I wouldn't have the patience to refinish it myself. I hope your project goes wonderfully well! :)

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  6. What a beautiful job your son did! Thanks for sharing @Vintage Charm--pinning!

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    1. I was so glad for his muscles that worked so hard on this... it is a joy to use that table again and the finish is lasting so nicely. :) Thank you for pinning.

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