Round Table Revamp

 

You may have seen this table before in my living room. It was next to my old chair. It looked nice in black and from far away  seemed okay. But up close this is what the top looked like. Not so pretty. It had one neat lions head knob and one random knob on the other side. The claw feet were in good shape so those got taped off.

I decided to try to strip the top to see what shape the wood was in. I used Motsenbocker's Lift Off which is a good stripper that does not have an overwhelming smell to it. It is not a fast stripper though and did take several coats.

Here it is after one removing one coat and after I applied a second coat. It had black, then gold, then some green under there before I hit the wood.

I'm getting down to some wood now! It was goopy coming off. But what is good about this stripper is that you just let that goop dry and it's safe to just throw out. That I liked. 

It's all off now and here is what I was left with. A dark ring. My plan was to try to lighten it. I knew I could not sand a lot since it was a veneer and not solid wood. So, I sanded it some and then decided to bleach it.

There are wood bleaches out there for problems like this. I just went with household bleach. I didn't want to buy more stuff and I just needed it to lighted somewhat since I was staining it dark. I let it sit for awhile, then wiped it off and repeated a few times. I then rinsed it with some baking soda and water because I read something about neutralizing the bleach. I figured it couldn't hurt. I let it dry overnight before sanding lightly again and then staining with a dark walnut stain. That is a simple wipe on wipe off process. I did two coats.

The drawers need a little work. The random knob left an indentation on the drawer front. So I filled it along with the chipped veneer with some wood putty and then sanded smooth.

Plan A was to paint the base a creamy white without any primer. I was going to sand back to let some of the black show through. I used my brand new Purdy 1 1/2 inch angled brush. See how you can get a nice clean line with a good quality brush? So very important. And look at those smooth bristles. I know it's new but as long as I wash it well it will stay like that and keep it's edge. Keep the wrapper it comes in to store your brushes.

When you have a good brush there is really no need to tape off edges. Like around windows and doors. It saves so much time. I do use tape for some things. Like stripes or on the feet for this table. But that was to keep me from dripping stuff on them. I could have easily painted right up to it without a mess. 

Okay, here is where Plan A went wrong. There are some woods that tend to bleed. This being one of them. There were some spots on the base that the black paint had chipped away. I had sanded them down and it left some of the wood showing. I had a funny feeling this would be a problem but I tried anyway and thought I'd show you what NOT to do. Below is with the paint only.

This picture below was taken within seconds of applying a water based primer. It's coming through again that fast. You can click on the pic if you can't see it well. So I went with Plan B, which I knew was going to happen. I had to run out and get an oil based primer. I went with Zinser's Cover Stain. It worked great and I just primed the whole base with it since I had more then this one little spot. No more bleed through.

The base was top coated in a SW creamy sample I had. Then the next day I used a coat of clear briwax on the top and lightly glazed the base. I mixed burnt umber with a glazing base. You want to make sure everything is thoroughly dry first. I didn't glaze a lot, just mostly in the groves. I used a light hand and wiped off with a dry or damp cloth depending on how much I wanted to take off. You can see it better in the close ups.

I'd like to find another lion's head ring. For now these make a great stand in. The color is great with my rug. Which you can't see, but it does.

At first I was unsure of the wood grain on the top. I can always change it down the road but I'm liking it more and more. The ring disappeared with the stain. I wish I had done this sooner. I really love the results.

Linking up with:
Miss Mustard Seeds Furniture Feature Friday
Savvy Southern Style Before & After
Primitive & Proper Piece of Work Wednesday

Cottage Instincts Make It 4 Monday
The DIY Showoff Project Parade 
The DIY Club Project Party

see you later,