DIY: Up-Cycle of a Hallway Table
Hello Everyone,
I am back with another post! I know it's been couple of weeks, however I have been keeping a close eye on everyone's blogs and read so many "how tos" & "dos and don'ts" etc. and I decided I'd prefer my blog to be quality rather than quantity! I had few topics in mind in the last while, but then I took a step back and thought - is this really me? What benefit is this going to bring others? is it INTERESTING? and i decided not to write those posts in the end.
So this week I am back with the hallway table transformation using all the techniques I learned during my "Furniture Restoration Class". Some of you might have seen snippets of it on my Snapchat (joanna.stich) and I finally caught enough daylight to do the photographs and dug out the "before" photos too.
Back in September I decided I wanted to do something creative with the little extra time I had on my hands (which looking back really wasn't a WHOLE lot of extra time) and I took up an evening class in our local school - Furniture Restoration. To be quite honest I thought I'd be learning how to re-upholster furniture, but turns out that was a completely different class altogether (silly).
The class was ran by a retired employee of the office of public works and his knowledge of wood and different materials and techniques was mesmerizing. There was no question he didn't have an answer to!
I didn't have a piece of furniture that needed to be renovated, however Warren's mam had this little table in the hallway which could have used some TLC. So she happily let me work on that as my very first project (risky!).
It's a little hallway table with one drawer for bits such as mail, and a little shelf underneath for what I can only imagine was phone books etc.
Here are before pictures:
As you can see the legs were quite tired possibly due to the age of the table and the use of it as it's right by the front door. The top of the table had a black hole in it from a candle wax that was spilled sometime ago.
How I up-cycled it?
I have stripped the color using Nitromors (all purpose paint & varnish remover) and a chiseler. Whilst using Nitromors you have to be extremely careful and use gloves at all times. It's such a powerful liquid that when in contact with skin it will start to burn off your cells (ouch yes!).
Once the paint was completely removed, I sanded the top using sandpaper (medium strength) to ensure the area is smooth for re-applying paint or french polish (depending on what you are going to use). I have then cleaned out the burned hole - removed all burnt wood and debris from the inside and used a natural color beeswax. It's a special wax in various colors that fills in any damages or holes within furniture (only to a certain damage size). Alternatively you can use Brummer's Wood Filler again it comes in various colors, so match it to your item color or the desired color you want to achieve at the end. The wax/wood filler must be left to dry for 24 hours and the area which was filled re-sanded again.
Once the table was sanded to the condition I was happy with I have used fine steel wool as a finishing touch to achieve smooth table top.
From the beginning of this project I knew that I did not want to re-polish it to its original condition, but to paint it with chalk paint. I have opted for Annie Sloan Chalk Paint "Paris Grey". I have applied 2 coats of the paint by small size roller followed by 2 coats of the Rust-Oleum Finishing Wax using a clean cloth in order to preserve the paintwork and any future scratches on the wood.
I have also used the Rust-Oleum Bright Copper spray paint for the handles and screws to add this vintage look to the table.
The End Result:
The original mahogany color was dark and quite heavy for a small hallway and this Paris Grey is definitely light and happy. It also brightens up the hall and makes it look more spacious.
I have to say I am delighted with how it turned out especially as this was my first solo up-cycle project ever. It took me months, hopefully next one will not be so time consuming now that I have all this knowledge behind my belt! Haha.
On this note, I am going to finish this weeks post. I'd really really appreciate if you could let me know if this type of post (DIY/Up-Cycle/Interior) interest you as I am growing so fond of these projects and be more than happy to produce more content like this!
As always,
Lots of Love,
Joanna xoxo