Purchase in Haste, Repent at Leisure

You know it and I know it.  Don't buy something when you are in a rush.  And never buy covered furniture.  I remember my mom telling me a story about her brother who bought a horse at auction with the saddle on.  When he got it home there was something terrible wrong with the horse's back.  So he took it back to auction and sold it to some other sucker.  This time I am the sucker.

 

I popped into a local antique shop and saw a little table.  It was just the right size and I liked the legs.  They were not the usual thing.  It had a bunch of things on top and the lady in the store assured me there were no cracks or anything hidden under the lamp and other bits and pieces.  The store was crowded and I was on my way somewhere else, so I paid for the table and arranged to pick it up later.

 

The  table was knotty pine and someone had fixed the top issues by sanding divots into it.  The worse part was the table was not level.  At all.  Not even close.  That alone was a table killer.  I wanted it for a lamp.  I'm not fond of shabby chic, so I didn't want to leave it terrible and just prop up a leg...or two.

 

First I sanded like crazy and filled the worst of the divots. 

 

Then I realized there was a major crack going on.  I had to glue and clamp the crack.  Then I had to glue and clamp the legs.  A few of the legs were no longer glued in and they were pulling away from the table. I hoped to fix the level issue by fixing the legs.  Oh. There is the problem.  The holes for the dowels that held the legs were drilled every which way and there was no way to level this table.

 

At this point I wanted to throw this horrible little table in the burn pile.  It was not even cheap.  Just cheaply made!

I don't seem to be able to give up and stop throwing good money after bad.  I might as well invest even MORE money and time before I burn this piece of cra  junk.  I'm wanting an axe or a sledgehammer right about now.

 

But, no.  More sanding and now I go buy some spray paint.  I am not going to try and stain or brush on paint for this table.

 

I try to address the uneven table top and start using this wedges of wood from wood shims to cut and glue to the bottom of various legs.  In order to get the top level and keep it from wobbling, I had to cut three different thicknesses of wood and glue them on three different legs.  One was so thick I had to sand and paint it to make it a part of the leg and keep it from being too noticeable.

WHY am I spending this time on a table I hate?  I don't know.  I'm asking YOU.  There must be some deep psychological reason for this insanity.

While this was going on an auction came up at a local consignment and auction house, Crowning Touch. I was able to get what they called a Duncan Phyfe Mahogany Drum Table.  I know it is a drum table, but with my current luck in furniture purchasing, who knows about the rest.

 

I got it for 1/3 less than the junk table.  It did have about one quarter of the top that had the finish burned off and a few scratches.  Lesson to furniture owners out there.  Don't put them in the full sun and then never oil  your nice pieces!

I bought some lacquer thinner and did a quick strip.  I got tired of buying Homer Formsby and spending day on refinishing a piece.  This did take quite a bit of color off and I used some of the dark cherry stain I had left over from another project.  I bought a can of spray lacquer and gave it two coats.  On the third coat the spray started spitting and the lacquer came out uneven.  Back to the store for one more can.

 

All that and it was still way less of a chore than the stupid pine table.  Look how pretty and it took maybe three hours or stripping, sanding and painting, not counting driving!

 

After all the expenses I bet the pine table cost twice what the drum table ended up costing.  I refuse to put it in the basement for the B&B.  I ended up putting it in our bonus room to set a lamp on. 

 

Which one would you prefer?  No question, right?

Here is my biggest fear.  When we die the kids will fight over this piece of junk table because if I spent so much time working on it, it must mean something to me.  And the beautiful drum table will go back to the auction.

A Whole Lot of Nothing

We are constantly busy and even actually accomplishing things.  But nothing so exciting that I think I can make an interesting story about it.

   

The big news is that Lee has finished all the electrical work.  He just finished the last three this morning.  That is a huge job and I imagine his fingers are grateful to have a break.  Every outlet and switch is now operational and all the overhead lights are in.  There are places that aren't as bright as we would like, but we didn't want glaring bright lights everywhere.  We intend to put in a few table and floor lamps to finish things off and for all levels of light.

Speaking of which, I am going up to visit my brother and his wife soon.  They are kindly hosting us and arranging to show us some of their favorite estate sale sites.  Whatever we don't find on this trip we will get later, or maybe Jane will find it in her heart to pick up a few pieces when she finds them.  There is no rush on furnishing an unfinished house.

We are waiting for the tile contractor to give us a bid.  Kinda scary.  Like Lee says, though, "It's only money."  Wait a minute.  ONLY money??

I took off the railing in the stairwell to paint the walls.  It is made with unfinished wood and I decided to put a Tung oil finish on it.  A long time ago, back in the days before HGTV (yes, Virginia, there was such a time) there was a show I used to watch with Homer Formsby.  He did some beautiful furniture refinishing and he used Tung oil.

Based on his recommendation, I have stripped and refinished some pieces using it and I really like the effect.  It gives a nice finish to the wood and protects it, yet it is not a varnish and super shiny.  The intent is to nourish the wood and give the appearance of a hand rubbed finish.

   

Lee set up some saw horses and I sanded the railings with smaller and smaller grit paper.  Then I polished it with some very fine steel wool.  I used 0000 steel wool and then wiped off all the dust.  A tack rag works well.  Smooth as a baby's bottom!

    

Homer ( I call him Homer because we are like this...picture fingers crossed ) would use his bare hands to apply the finish and rub it in. The instructions on the Tung oil container...and it IS his formula... say to use gloves, so I do.  I discovered I only had a left hand glove.  The right hand one was ruined on the last project, so I got a quart size Ziploc bag, put my hand in it and it worked great.  It wouldn't have worked for a big project, but this is a little one!

   

Tung oil should be applied in three coats.  The first one soaks right in the raw wood and you can barely tell that you have applied anything.  You have to wait 12 hours and then use the 0000 steel wool lightly before applying the next coat.  I usually just do it the next day.  The first time I did it I wondered if I was taking all the finish off I had just put on.  Do it anyway.  Don't forget to wipe all the dust off before applying the second coat.

   

You can really see the results after the second coat.  The temptation is huge to just stop there.  And you can.  But you already have at least two days into this project.  What's one more?  You can see how it looks, even in poor light.  On the left is after two coats and the right is after three. 

  
   

We will re-install the railings tonight and then I will feel safer when walking up and down the stairs.  Not a fan of stairs without railings!  And one more thing off the huge,  gigantic,  enormous list.