Monday, June 28, 2010

Furniture Facelifts...

After scoring this amazing extension table on the side of the road, I have started dreaming up ideas for giving it a new life. To paint or not to paint...

Some interesting background information about "scoring" this table actually. I was driving up my road and spotted this wee beauty. I got a bit overly excited and knew I had to act quickly. I knew this from past experience.

You see just a few days earlier on my way to boot camp I noticed some old chairs sitting on the kerb and had every intention of collecting them on my way home. They must have only been put out minutes before I drove down the road, as they weren't there on my drive home from work... Of course by the time I drove back up the street, they were gone.....

My mother in law was out that night and the first thing I said upon entering the house was "please tell me you picked up those chairs on the side of the road!!!".... nope, they were gone even by the time she drove up the street. My dreams were shattered.... until I saw this perfect little extension table hanging kerbside on this particular Saturday afternoon.

So, back to the table saga. I rushed home to grab some helpers - but to no avail... Mr D was nowhere to be seen, neither was our flatmate at the time...all the boys in the house next door had taken off to England months earlier to play rugby, so no lifting power there. I ran to the flat next door... nobody home....across the road to our friends place...nobody home.

I decided to do be the little red hen thing and attempt to lift on my own. Not a good idea for someone with a notoriously bad back. I think the boot camp training had gone to my head a little and I totally overestimated myself. Nevertheless, I parked up, opened the boot and ran across to grab the prized table.

Problem.

Due to it being an extension table, every time I attempted to lift it the extensions would slide out...I tried several times.

Yes. I looked like an idiot.

So I drove down to another house down the road to see if my friend was home... I barged into the house and shouted " I need a man! ". A tad embarrassing after discovering my friend wasn't home, and her mum was entertaining overseas guests.... too late to back out now. I explained my situation and she immediately understood. She is totally into the art of  finding and refurbishing little treasures.

So she hopped into my car, along with this poor guy from Brazil who had to squat in the back on top of the folded down seats, and head on up the road on my table mission. I am certain he thought I was a complete nut.

After retrieving the table, loading it into the car and dropping them home, I stood back, took a picture and began dreaming of the possibilities....
Because the table is in pretty bad condition, and not expensive wood, I have decided I will most likely paint it (one day)... I am tossing up between farmhouse red which would remind us of the beautiful rural French family we stayed with, or perhaps a retro soft green with odd chairs.... or... just white... with mismatched white painted chairs....

Are you starting to feel my dilemma?

I hope this inspires you to pick up that old, worn out chair, next time you come across one on the side of the road....don't hesitate! If we can learn one thing from this blog, let that be it.




















can't remember link - anyone know?



Do you have a stash of "to do" furniture? I know my husband has fears we are going to end up with a junk yard... His rules are pretty straight forward... finish that one before you pick up another one... yeah right!
Future blog post - before and after furniture makeovers...

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