Swedish Side Table

Since my coffee table (this one was hard to part with) sold at Blessings Boutique, I had to get some new tables into my space quickly lest my stuff be on the floor.  This weekend I finished two tables and I am working on a third, so this is going to be a week of table projects here on my blog.

I spotted this lovely (not so lovely at the time) vintage table in my parents' garage.  My little brother recently went away to college and had used this table as a tv stand in his bedroom.  Since it was just gathering dust in the garage and because I thought I could make something of it, I took the little table home to give it a new life.

After

The table was scratched and dirty when I found it in the garage.  The beautiful, flower inlay did not stand out through the old finish.  

Before

After a good cleaning and sanding with my palm sander, the beautiful wood underneath was exposed!

I did not want to put a finish on the wood that would hide the inlay and the beautiful quality of the old wood, so I just applied two coats of tung oil to protect the top and brighten it up a bit.

I decided to add some contrast to this simple table by painting the base and legs white.

When I first saw this table I thought it might be too plain to make beautiful, but now I love the straight lines and simplicity of this Swedish style table.  

I love the warm, natural glow of the wood and the way the inlay stands out now.

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