You may recall that a while ago I posted about a coffee table I didn’t know what to do with. It wasn’t in bad enough shape to justify painting and stripping it would be unpleasantly daunting but it needed something.
To quote Clueless - it was kind of a Monet.
Looked OK from a distance
But was kind of a mess when you got up close
The very, very smart and talented Susan at Maple and Magnolia suggested I use Restore – A – Finish and boy was she right.
I knew about Restore-A-Finish but had never used it. If you don’t know about it (and I’m sure almost all of you are waaaaay ahead of me on this one), Restore-A-Finish is a light stain that that blends out scratches and water rings and other small blemishes while re-hydrating the old wood.
So I picked up a can and stain marker and got to work
Wow! I’m not sure if the pictures do it justice but it looks 100% better and it took almost no time at all.
Remember that corner detail?
Is it perfect and pristine?
No, not quite.
But stripping it would have been a messy nightmare and painting it would have felt like a bit of a crime. This is the perfect solution. Quick, easy and the results more than satisfactory.
Like this:
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About cheltenhamroad
I’ve been surrounded by amazingly creative people my whole life.
My mom can, and does, make anything. The family has on occasion speculated that she just whipped up my dad one day when she discovered some left over fabric and stuffing. My three sisters have mad skills ranging from needlework to cooking to out and out ART. My father’s desk when I was growing up had a model train set going around it, oh, and he made that desk-from scratch.
I’m the youngest and, as you can imagine, it’s a hard series of acts to follow. Truth be told, I’ve spent many, many years suppressing the creative instincts I learned at home.
But I realized (rather late in life) that few things bring me more joy than making and creating. For the longest time when I went to stores I didn’t think, “I want that” I thought, “I can make that.” And, with a deep breath and a leap, I’ve started on a very new, kinda scary path. I’ve given up my steady, dependable (dull!) corporate life to spend my days happily humming away in my garage designing, creating, painting, decoupaging and sawing and, since this blog will be an honest take on things, there is also a fair amount of tripping, spilling and swearing.
Through this blog I hope to share with you the struggles and (hopefully) triumphs of a very non-businessy business person. I also hope to make this blog a resource for people who like to work with their hands and who are, like me, always looking at things and thinking “I could make that!”
I’ve lived many places since I left Cheltenham Road; I currently live in Los Angeles California.
So, with this preamble- Welcome to Cheltenham Road! Please come on over and make yourself comfortable – the place is always open.
But was kind of a mess when you got up close
Remember that corner detail?
Is it perfect and pristine?
Looks great!
Thanks Donna! I knew the RAF would work but I didn’t realize how well it would work.
Wow! I’ve never heard of it, so thanks for the introduction. Love the result! Beautiful rescue!
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
Wow – what a transformation! I have an old table that could use some help. Thanks for sharing the great tip!
It looks gorgeous! Do you sand it first?
Thanks! I did a light sanding on the areas I was going to use the touch up pen on but for the rest of it I just gave it a very, very thorough cleaning.
http://www.cheltenhamroad.etsy.com http://www.cheltenhamroad.wordpress.com
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That stuff is amazing!!! the table looks fabulous!