Karli's New, Old Farm Table

Karli's birthday is coming up soon.  Almost every year she gets something homemade or refinished from Mom and Dad.  I guess it is just important to me that her gift is something made or remade with love.  This year will be no exception. 


She is getting a New, Old Farm Table.  She has a dining table now.  In fact it is one I repainted for her ten ?? years ago.  It is black and still in good shape......she may be selling it.  She has been saying she wanted a larger one and she wants it to be white.  She also likes the look of distressed, recycled wood on top.  Great.....


I staged a house for resale last month and was partially paid with furniture.  One piece was an old farm table that had been in the owner's shed for years.  At one time the top
had been covered with oil cloth.  That had been removed, but the old tacks were still buried in the wood.  These had to be dug out.  And as if that wasn't bad enough, the top  had then been recovered with Contact Paper...........why do people do that?  The legs were dirty yellowed cream paint.  Other than that, it was in great shape.

I did not have great success trying to pull or scape off the old Contact Paper which had probably been on since the 1970's.  I ended up using the blow dryer to heat up the Contact Paper, making it pull up easier.  I still had to do quite a bit of scraping. 

Then I discovered underneath the Contact Paper that the top was painted the same yellowed cream.  Oh NO.....Karli wanted a dark wood top.  So out comes the stripper.
Did I mention that I love to STRIP!

This old table had been used for years as a "utility" table for craft projects, planting, and as a surface for small home repairs.  But, Karli said she wanted distressed.  Dwight kept asking when I was going to get out the big sander and wood putty.  I kept reminding him that this table had history and character, both of which would remain.  Karli and Brent wanted a table that could be abused, one that had that rustic feel, kind of a Pottery Barn look.


I did repaint the frame and old legs white, (Karli's choice now), but I distressed them. The top got stained dark, leaving some old paint down in the pits.  It then got 3 coats of Satin Polyurethane, (sanding with steel wool between coats.)   Here is what Karli's New Old Farm Table looks like now:

And here is Karli's New, Old Farm Table at her house.....
   

(She would like me to let you know that she'll do a full post with the final look of the room soon)
Happy Birthday Sweetheart!
Kandy