From Eek to Chic

Apparently, back  in the day cherub tables were all the rage (think 1960's-ish). I begged my granny's table off of her even before I knew where I would put it. I had grown up seeing the table and thought it would be nice to "remix" a small piece of my childhood. However,  nothing, and I do mean nothing, ever works as planned. As soon as I opened my trunk the table rolled out, slammed on my foot and broke apart. WTH! It had survived all those years and I broke it in the matter of minutes, I  could have cried. I didn't have the heart to just throw it out, so I limped to the garage and put it with the rest of the stuff that was quickly piling up.

Fast-forward a couple of months later and I had the best idea: I could glue the table together! Who cared if it was broken? It was old anyways and the crack would add character. Antique is in! I could hardly contain myself as I ran out to the garage to get started on my project. I searched all over-- but no table. Come to find out, my husband had thrown it away just days earlier. Talk about an angry woman. There was so much rubbish piling up in our garage but he picked THAT to throw away?! Just my luck...

So I was back to square one; only now my heart was a little heavier as I imagined my granny's table in some landfill somewhere. There was nothing I could do to get it back, so I did the next best thing. I jumped on the net and started searching for a replica. I eventually came across what I was looking for, but the pieces were higher than expected--I'm talking much higher, in the hundreds :-(
I finally settled on a reasonable one, but it was still more than I would have liked to pay. Luckily my husband bought it for me for Mother's Day. Good save.

Of course, while I was searching for a table I came across similar styled lamps--naturally, my life wouldn't be complete without one. But again I ran into the same problem--the lamps were just too much darn money ($169 was the cheapest). After a little more digging I spotted one on Craigslist for a whopping...TEN BUCKS! I bought that thing so fast it would make your head swim (can you tell my grandparents are from the south?) :-)  I was super excited, however the pieces had just been sitting tucked away into a corner of my writing room until this past weekend.

I got up early Saturday morning and headed to Lowes on a mission. This would be the day that I got down to business. Let me tell you, sample paint is everything! I got more than enough paint and a pan for just a little over 3 bucks. Now I am trying to figure out if there is anything else in my house that I wouldn't mind being Vessel Gray ;-)

Again I headed out to the garage and got to work. The finished product was even better than I hoped. It's amazing what just a little paint can do--it took my pieces to a whole new level and I am more than happy to display them now. :)

Here's some befores & afters:

 Preparing to start the paint job...yes, I currently have to do all of my painting outside :-(

 



 Table top view...my granny's table was a bit taller (which is what I wanted) but whatever...

 



Close up of cherubs...I LOVE that detail!

 And after! Pics aren't as clear as I would like them to be, but you get the idea.

 

The Color is Vessel Gray and it gives my pieces a really refined look. By the way, I didn't have a roller at the time so everything was painted by brush. The table top shows just a bit of brush strokes--which I actually like. If that isn't your thing make sure you have a roller on hand for the flat surfaces.

The lamp! Cool huh? Again, the detail was stupendous. Nice on its own, but I knew I could upgrade it ;-)

 

Turned out fab! Now the hunt is on for the perfect lamp shade.

 

So there you have it, with just a little paint these pieces went from eek (well not really eek to me, but you know...) to chic. The next time you come across something that needs a little love consider salvaging it by slapping a coat of paint on it, the results could truly be amazing. Happy Transforming!