French Gray Table

ooh, la, la!!

I found this darling table (bench?) at the thrift store for $6.00. Yes, you read that right. Six dollars!!!!!

I was so happy when I plopped it in my cart. I then attempted to juggle the table and a toddler trying to climb out of the cart at the same time.

Moments later a lady passed by my cart, saw the table, and said "why don't I ever find anything like that!"

I said "get here five minutes earlier". Just kidding, I didn't really say that.

I just smiled. I was busy trying to make sure Levi didn't crack his head open.

Don't you just love all her curves!!

My original plan was to sand down the top and put on a fresh coat of stain and then paint the legs white.

However, when I started sanding the top I found out that at some point the top must have fallen off and someone had glued it back on.

There were little blobs of dried up glue all around the edges.

Not a great candidate for refinishing.

So I painted her a creamy white. Then heavily distressed the piece.

She was pretty, but I wasn't satisfied.

I knew what I wanted to do, but was scared.

So I lived with the piece for a week, hoping the white would grow on me.

No, it really wasn't what I wanted!

 I wanted an antique gray wash on her.

The glaze I own is brown and I didn't want to go out and buy new glaze so I decided to try an experiment.

I mixed two parts glaze with one part gray acrylic paint. It was the color of putty when all mixed up.

I started nice long strokes of gray on the top and then immediately wiped the excess glaze off.

AND I LOVED IT!!!!!!!

It was exactly the look I was going for (don't you love it when that happens).

I have found that my glaze does not like to be wiped at a whole bunch.

So for the legs I would paint some glaze in the crevices, wipe it down, let it dry.

Then I would go over the rest of the leg with the glaze.

Trying my best to have nice even brush strokes and then wiping off the whole section I was working on.

I ended up with a few areas like this where the paint is "bunched up".

 Yes, that's a very technical paint term. I don't know why you've never heard it before?

Let the furniture piece cure (dry) for a day or two, then you can gently sand down the area.

You can go over the area with a little more glaze if you need to.

I like to pretend this little table was found in the attic of a very elegant old French woman.

Her children discovered it after she passed.

"Where did mama get this table?" they wonder.

See, she grew up in a very wealthy household.

But as an young lady she fell in love with a poor peasant.

He had dark eyes and dark hair and a heart full of sunshine.

Her parents disowned her when she ran off with him.

The only reminder from her old life was this pretty little table she brought with her.

When the children were little they would climb all over it and jump off of it, as children are known to do.

Mama was afraid someone would get hurt.

So up to the attic went the elegant little table and over the years it was forgotten.

Until now............

  

No Minimalist Here

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Write by: AN - Monday, March 28, 2011