Restoration Hardware Coffee Table Update

Back when Mr. Rubbish and I were both full-time teachers and had money to spend, I bought this pricey coffee table from Restoration Hardware.  It had a dark espresso finish with lovely column legs.



Before

I was getting tired of the dark finish and all the scratches on the top.  I decided to give the table an updated look and sell it at Loot.

Here is the new look for my old table:

After

Before

This is a really rough "before" picture because I had already started sanding the finish off and there is dust all over the top, but at least you can see the old finish and all the little scratches.  When I showed Mr. Rubbish the before and after pictures of this table, he accused me of being like the plastic surgeons who use good lighting and cosmetics to enhance their "after" pictures, while taking horrible "before" pictures.  I suppose he is kind of right, but it is mostly because I am so excited to start working on a piece that I just snap some quick pictures and get right to work.

The wood underneath the dark stain has natural distressing and looks like a reclaimed, farm table top.  After sanding all the finish off of the top of the table, I used Annie Sloan clear wax to protect the wood.  A friend of mine let me borrow her electric buffer and used it to buff the wax finish, both on the table top and base.  The electric buffer hardens the wax and gives it a beautiful sheen.

Once I finished the table I fell in love with it again and I decided to keep it instead of selling it.  Many times it becomes difficult to part with pieces of furniture that I relove, and every once in a while, I give in and keep one. 

I did not want to deal with removing the dark finish from the table base, so I used French Linen Chalk Paint over the original finish.  I painted one coat, which left some of the wood grain showing through. Then, I used Annie Sloan's clear and dark waxes over the paint to give it more depth.

The wood has tiny holes all over and I am not sure if they are man-made or come from tiny worms or insects living in the tree that this table came from.  Either way, I like the character they add to the table.

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