As Close To MCM As I Get

OK, two things before we get in to this one:

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2. Go get yourself a a drink and a comfortable chair, this is gonna be a long one 🙂

When it comes to my home/decor/furniture I am a pretty traditional girl.  I like to mix styles a bit but Midcentury Modern has never figured in to my personal decorating equation.  But last week I was flipping through Facebook Marketplace ads when I come across these:

A pair of these for $45.

Let me just say right now that I do not find pairs of end tables very often.  Only one other time have I gotten that lucky.  I immediately asked the seller if she might take payment over the phone.  I was so excited I couldn’t stand myself!  My Aunt Wanda and my Dad went and picked up my two latest victims the next morning .  As soon as I got off work I head out to my Dad’s to pick these babies up!

Paint splatters and not much finish left to speak of.

OK by me.

****This is my actual orbital sander.  If you are thinking about getting your own this a perfect, easy to use sander at a good price***

I began by sanding the tops down particularly carefully .  I could already tell that these tops were made up of a very thin veneer thanks to a pretty good ding in one of the corners.

 I always have to learn the hard way.

 My entire life.

When it comes to veneer the big trick is to TAKE YOUR TIME.  Just go slow and steady and you will have no problems.  After all of the sanding was done it was time to decide how I was going to finish tops.  Now for a really long time I have used Annie Sloan Dark Wax on my bare wood tops.  I recently brough home a can of General Finishes Flat Out Flat which is a water based top coat.  After consulting the lovely folks at GF’s it turns out that you can not use it over a wax finish of any kind.

And I was dying to try it.

So for these babies I went the stain route.

I have always loved Special Walnut.

It is the stain I used to use before I went to all Dark Wax. It is also the stain that is on my own dining room table.

It is so easy.

Just you, that stain and a rag.

 

Two words.

My. Lord.

If you’d had a window open you could have probably heard me squeal at your house.

This is General Finishes Empire Gray chalk paint.

In my humble opinion gray paint can go one of two ways: blue or brown.

 If that makes any sense at all.

Empire Gray is the most luxurious gray I have used,  in application, color and coverage.

 And it lends toward brown by the way.

It is always me and Little Man doing this crazy stuff, ever notice?

The tops of both of these tables turned out gorgeous.

I have yet to seal them with that Flat Out.  If I had bothered to read the can I would have known that the stain has to cure for 72 hours before GF’s recommends application.

Well Poop.

I really gotta try to slow down.

The biggest problem I have with these MCM tables was one of them was missing a drawer pull.  Each table has one drawer and each drawer has two pulls. Long store short I have one extra pull.  I tried in vain to find pull to match, like drove myself nuts on the internet.  All of this before it actually dawned on me that I didn’t  actually need two pulls per single drawer.

Hand to forehead

So this weekend is forecast to be cold and white:))

Perfect weekend to try that Flat Out.

I will let y’all know how it plays out.

Emmitt really needs a stay at home Mama.

Paige