Trash to Treasure Tuesday rises....

Now, now, now people don't get yourselves in a tizzy.  YES, I have returned with a lovely trash to treasure, but don't be expecting this to happen every week.  It only took me 9 months to get my  act together and do this one.

Seriously....I happened upon this little gem of a table in a thrift store an age ago.  I knew it had grand potential, and for SEVEN DOLLARS I could NOT pass it up, but didn't have the time or gumption to do it.  It sat in my garage for a rather long time, collecting more dust and taking up space.  Until one day we were having our neighbors over for dinner and I realized our little 4 seater table was just NOT gonna cut it.  So, I hauled the bigger table in and wiped it down and put a big ol' table cloth over it to cover the hideous mess that it really was.  Well, after I saw how delightful it was to have an actual table of size I couldn't go back to the mini table.  I spent several months just covering the table up with various cloths and loathing the mess that needed me to do something with it.

To be fair, I AM pregnant and have been RATHER miserable this time around.  But finally, FINALLY, the day came when i actually had enough energy, enough drive and enough desire to get this bad boy done.  PHEW!  It was about damn time.

Ready?......

BEFORE:

What is not to love about those legs?

Pretty rough shape, as you can see.

How cute is that?  The sides fold down too.

Did I mention.....SEVEN BONES for this table?

So, Jer helped me take it out to the garage and I went to town sanding that bad boy down.  There were some serious gouges and issues to deal with.  As we all know, I don't do sanding....it's annoying and realllllly messy.  However, as evidenced by my crappy photos...there was no way around sanding this bad boy.  I sanded for a good while, cleaned it, taped off the cute little claw feet and hinges, painted the bottom and then stained the top.  Yes, STAINED.  Have I mentioned that I also don't do staining.  ICK!  It's messy and annoying and really not my cup of tea.  However, this seemed like the way to go with this project.

Now, as we all know, I also have a patience problem.  So, goodness knows I was not about to wait around between coats, or take extra long time sanding, or not paint the bottom while the top was drying.  I have things to do people, things.to.do.  I mention this because, well....while I like the results, there are definitely some flaws in my finished product.  But, good news...I'm also NOT a perfectionest. hahahaaha

FINE, I'll show it to you:

AFTER:

Look closely, you'll see said flaws.....sanded too low in some places.  Stain doesn't cover that bidness.  Ah well.  I'm going with....it's rustic and old, so the bad spots look ok, right? hahahahahahahaha

Pretty, no?

Spray painted the base with rustoleum heirloom white.

Stained the top with minwax gel stain cherry.

Table runner is just 3 yards of muslin, and a work in progress.  Gonna shorten it a bit, add some ruffles on the side and we'll see.

And now...it makes me happy to walk into my kitchen and see this pretty, complete, non splintery, rough mess of a table.  It looks finished and lovely.

And though I may have been RATHER sore for several days afterward, it was worth the pain of squatting and moving around on my knees and doing all that work.

Now the question here is....how do we feel about the chairs?  Keep them, or do I have to paint them all cream now?  I won't lie, the thought of doing that is NOT exciting to me.

Stainfully and painfully yours,

Allyson