I find a take great pleasure in repair and reuse of 2nd hand objects. In finding an object so full of love it has been broken and discarded and giving it the care it deserves and allowing it to be filled with even more love in a new home. This project was a remarkably easy one and it started as most of mine do, searching for second hand items.
We found ourselves at a tip shop hunting for a simple coffee table of very particular dimensions for my friend, Janet. After hunting the long isles of furniture at Logan Recycling Market we had come across a couple of contenders but we found one we adored. A chunky pine piece that had see a lot of action and was considerably tired. But upon inspection this seemed nothing some good elbow grease couldn't solve! After a purely ceremonial exchange of money ($10AUD) we took her home and got to work.
Next was the only hard part of this sort of repair which is sanding off the hard existing coating, or at least what was left of it. This was a good two afternoons of slowing making our way up through the grits until it was ready to take on a new, more flattering and easier to look after coat. (Janet did take most of the work lets be honest
Danish oil is my finish of choice because its:
Easy to apply
Only needs 2-3 coats
Can be easily reapplied in later years
Leaves the beautiful text of the timber for you to touch
Two coats of this over two days with 240 grit sanding in between and reassembly and wowsers it has come out beautiful. For chump change and some good hours of labour Janet has a sweet table for her space that serves her wonderfully. And now it is looking lovely it'll even be easy to move on to another deserving home if Janet every decides on a change.
This was a fun project, simple, cheap and with great impact. It was so rewarding spending time with my friend to help her make her space that much cosier.
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