Sun Lover's End Table

Before and After

Awhile back I saw a tutorial on using contact paper to stain around a design.  I waited for the right furniture piece to be castoff to practice on.  When I stumbled upon this light colored end table, I knew it was my practice piece. 

I started by sanding down the top and choosing my design....a sun to hang on to summer a little longer.  After cutting the sun out of contact paper and laying it down, I first put down the MinWax  Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner.  Next, I used a cloth to apply the MinWax Wood Finish stain in "Red Oak".   Once dried, I removed the contact paper to find the sun design. 

The table received 3 coats of Polycrylic to the top and "Sarsapairlla" color to the bottom (also with Polycrylic).  The end result is a table to make summer last well into the winter!

 

Salvaged Desk: from Curbside to Charming

Before & After

There's nothing better than saving furniture from a landfill and turning it into something more charming than imagined.  That's what happened to this desk that was saved curbside.  Upon getting it out of the car, I quickly realized that it was discarded for it's black mold, not it's age.  The bottom 4 inches were caked in black mold and water damage.  After several unsuccessful attempts to remove it, my wonderful husband and I realized that the moldy molding could be removed!  Off it went...

Remove a few screws, give it a good hit with a sledgehammer and it was off!

As for the rest of the desk, it was in perfect condition, minus a few knicks and a "'67" carved on a drawer front.  With the bottom molding removed, there was now the issue of how to raise the desk back up.  Drawing on my endless supply of freebies (the desk was free too!), I found some wooden table legs I cut down to size. 

New legs and new trim were added along the bottom

 Due to the new wood added, and the older veneer, I chose to paint the bottom of the desk and only stain the top.  It's a new modern beauty!

Easy Coffee Table Restoration (with Howard Restor-A-Finish)

Sometimes furniture is solid but on the less-than-pretty side.  I had been wanting to try Howard Restor-A-Finish but wanted an old "junker" to try it on.  So along came this FREE coffee table.  It was solid wood and ugly.  It was definitely in need of restoring!  This was the perfect guinea pig for my trial run with this product. 

To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement!  It was fast, easy, and came with phenominal results!!  Just look at the before and after!


BEFORE



AFTER

It covered over all the scratches, blemishes, and water spots from glasses long ago.  The only thing it didn't remove was the dark circle stain near the center.  Look at that grain restored!

There are a few "rules" for using the Restor-A-Finish.  First, there can't be any kind of a seal on the wood.  This table's finish was long gone....if it ever had one. So the wood was able to soak in the finish.  Also, a seal afterwards is not an option.  Third, to clean/dust it in the future, use Howards Beeswax.  It's my go-to cleaner for solid wood these days. 

For an instructional video, click below.