Telephone Table Makeover!

This blog has been a long time coming!! If you recall, a few months ago I spotted this diamond in the rough curbside:

It's been living in my parents' garage while I decided what I wanted to do with it. Over the past few weeks I've been spending a few hours each weekend sanding and painting, and here is the progression. I am so proud of this piece because I did every step of it myself!

I chose this fabric remnant for the cushion and then selected a bold paint color.

I started off by removing the seat cushion and taking off the old vinyl. I had shown a photo of the piece to one of the owners at a local antique store, and he told me it looked to be 1940's, but that vinyl wasn't made until the 50's. He said to check and see if there was original fabric underneath, which would confirm that it's a 40's piece. Well, I was super excited to find that there WAS fabric under the vinyl, and I thought it was awesome to see that it was originally fastened with nails rather than the staples used on the vinyl.

Although I see why it was recovered.

Despite it's appearance, I decided to recover it without removing the original fabric first, because I just love that it exists from 70 years ago.

Using a paint scraper, sandpaper, and elbow grease, I sanded the surfaces until they were smooth.

If I ever own a home with a garage I can use as a workspace, I'm going to invest in some tools. Like a power sander.

I used a paint and primer in one to paint the wood, and it still needed three coats to cover the black.

The color is Behr Enchanting Ginger in eggshell finish.

I let the paint fully dry by bringing it inside the air conditioned house instead of the humid garage, and then the following weekend I finished it with a clear gloss made by Rustoleum. It's supposed to be chip proof, so we will see! And it's also super shiny.

In the meantime I recovered the cushion with some quilt batting and my fabric, after an annoying delay due to having the wrong staples to fit in the staple gun. I'm excited that basically just from watching the amount of DIY shows that I do, I know the proper technique for basic reupholstery.

The gloss required 48 hours to fully set before using the piece, so I impatiently waited a few days before going back to attach the cushion. Once it was finished, my parents loved it so much they were joking around about how wonderful it would look in their entryway. But alas, my dad helped me load it into my car so I could bring it to it's rightful place. There was a lot of rearranging done before I was happy with the placement, because I really wanted it to be a focal point in my living room.

Here is the completed project!!