My first “professional” piece: My Upcycling Journey Continues

MAY 24

Posted by Gina Storm Grant

Early in 2019, I found an attractive wooden end table on the ‘net. I happened to be going into Toronto the next day, passing right by the seller’s home, so I arranged to pick it up. Massive snow fell that night. Picture me clambering over unploughed snowdrifts, hauling this table with me like I was scaling Everest. It’s pretty heavy. But I persevered.

“Why are you giving it away?” I asked.

“The kids scratched the top,” she answered, and indeed, there were minor scratches to the finish.

This table is of recent make, and solid wood–no veneer or laminate. It was factory-stained that reddish-brown mahogany look. Might have come from Bombay Company.

I chose to work on this piece for a Painting 101 course.

The class was a lot of fun and the women who ran it knowledgable. They were as surprised as I was when, from a certain angle, the scratches showed right through 2 coats of navy blue F.A.T. chalk paint. Huh.

So I brought it home, sanded the top back to the wood, and re-painted the top using Fusion Mineral Paint’s Coal Black and then giving it 3 coats of Polyacrylic on the top, and 3 coats of chalk paint protector on the body.

I don’t have any use for it at my house, so it’s going to be my first professional sale.

OPINIONS, PLEASE (no commitment):

What would you pay for a sturdy little end table like this?