Restore A Finish

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 distanceBut 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.

Texture!

Do you guys use Anaglypta?  It’s my new go-to item for easily adding some depth and texture to anything.

I realize many of read that and thought to yourselves:

“yes, David, we know about Anaglypta – and, just FYI, we’ve also already stumbled across the wheel, fire and sliced bread but thanks so much for sharing.”

But for those of you who are less snarky Anaglypta is not, as I first thought, an Egyptian Pharoh but rather  a textured wallpaper.

It’s embossed and very, very sturdy and, best of all, not too expensive.  You can pick up a roll at Lowes for around $20.

I had this coffee table from the End Table Nirvana Haul

It has nice scalloped edges and after some gluing, sanding priming and painting (black) it looked pretty good.

But it just wasn’t catching anyone’s eye after, I think, three Rose Bowl cycles.

So I had piece glass cut and put some Anaglypta under it and…..

It sold within minutes!

So, I’m totally won over by Anaglypta and I’ve been inspired by these projects as well.

It makes such a great, subtle addition to this drawer front from The Rehab Boutique

Or check out this amazing transformation from Dumped and Discovered (I’m hooked on this blog too!).

How great will this be when you’re confronted with some beyond repair veneer or something? 

I can’t wait to get going on a new project!

Have a great weekend everyone!