Well hi! How have you been? Just popped in to show a coffee table and how it got some whitewash. From behind our jam room’s trash corner to our living room, this table has been a good girl, holding its wood and patina intact, even after all these years: this table belongs to my jam room owner’s mother. This used to be in their London home, in their living. When they shifted to India, this table crossed oceans and ended up in his storage with dead cockroaches and endless candy wrappers,until, God sent me in there 😉 You’ll agree when I tell you that I have this innate ability to make things sound very difficult and myself, extremely talented. No?
The first day I saw this beauty of a swan table, I told my husband I want to get it home. Of course, then it was a dying table with rusted wheels and ugly nails sticking out. Parties involved (henceforth will be ref to as ‘said party’) did not approve of it and asked me to walk with the table if I had to take it home, I cannot ride with that thing in this car. Lol, he has OCD and I have ‘let’s get filthy things and recycle’, making it an impossible situation. But nagging works! After many, many days of constantly expressing my need to take it home, he finally agreed to honor me with the ride. Thank you God for saving me the ride home in a tuktuk with this heavy thing. I am not in my hay days and I can’t carry wardrobes in Taxis alone, anymore.
before I get into showing you how, isn’t that little jewelry box a darling? My best friend went to France on a holiday and got me back this! To hold my lavender dreams. It’s these little things she thinks while picking up stuff that makes her so special. This now rests on my newly painted coffee table with other little blue things.
Back to swan coffee table-
Honestly, I thought of keeping the patina intact- it had beautifully chipped sides, gracefully aged and did I say chipped? But then ducco won over varnish! I think its simply because the wood had become dirty. Irrespective of sanding it down and giving it a good wash and dry, it refused to budge. And secondly, it was looking quite out of place in my home. It just stood out and in a bad way. After much thinking and rethinking, I decided on the same old white in which everything else in my home is painted but wanted a bit of that aged wood to show through.
After 2 coats of white, I chipped it carefully on spots to let the aged wood shine. Take a look.
Dont you just love it! So shabby and chic. I think Rachel Ashwell will approve of this in her ocean front home. If only she was watching this space. Sigh.
The shape of the base was such that it also inspired me to make a chair out of it. I wanted to do a seat and semicircular backrest. Like a statement piece of sorts with tucks. I almost narrowed down on a turquoise base and a coral seating with golden tucks. But the little birdie who stays here told me, simplicity is grace. Don’t change it to who she was. Just live her enough life to make her live another life.
This is from where I started. That’s Ice-tea btw, not beer. I would have loved to have a beer right now, but this is ice tea!
First I took out all the ugly nails sticking out
Thoroughly cleaned it with soap water
Next, I sanded it down a bit keeping the chippy, crackly surfaces and gave it two coats of white. Asian Paints plain white is what I use with a drop of blue or yellow depending on the color I am looking at.
The table already had space for suction base so bought suction holders to fit the holes on which my glass would sit. Once the paint was completely dry, I stud them in and put my glass.
Brought out my blue glasses which were again DIY-ed again and kept that little reminder from France. See the jamjars I did wuth the same technique below.
have a lovely weekend.
RoyXO