It's Project time!

I picked up this little table at an antique shop not far from my hometown.  I had seen the table there over the summer, but the woman was unwilling to come down on her price.  I left it where I found it.  I re-entered the little shop this past week to find the neglected table still sitting in the same spot.  This time the lady was ready to do some dealing.  I paid next to nothing for it and brought her home.  The table is in pretty bad shape.  It sits fairly sturdy, but it has some warping on the top and you can tell that someone has tried to do some "repairs".  I thought the price was worth the gamble so I decided to take a look under the three layers of paint. 

Time to put these tools to work!!!


Bonus points to anyone who can identify the photo shown in the top right of this picture!



It is really too cold to be trying to strip any furniture in the shop, but I was curious as to what I had.  This little table is kind of unique in that it doesn't have a bottom shelf.  You don't usually see that with these types of tables, so if I can make this thing turn out, it just might make a neat little piece.  I decided to just try and take the layers off of the top section to get a better look.

This is what I found.  As you can see, someone has tried to do some work on this table before.  Those white dots that you see in the middle of the surface are holes filled with wood filler.  They also filled in the space between the two sections of wood with wood filler.  I don't understand why they would do that.  It looks just fine with a small gap between the sections.  It gives it character.  The wood is very old and is pitted in certain sections.  There is paint deep in the grooves of the wood that will be difficult to get out.  It is going to take a lot of work on this section alone.

Here is what the top looks like after I did a little sanding and cleaned it with mineral spirits.  It all depends on how much more I can do with this top, but this table may be one that receives a heavy coat of a dark stain.

The good news is that the legs of the table look great and have very little design.  They will clean up quickly.

Stay tuned to see how this project turns out!