April 17, 2009

Old Is New Again

Recently,we had a short batch of Spring weather.....which got my project juices flowing. I thought it was finally time to tackle the table my Nana had given me 20 yrs earlier. It was one that she had used for many, many years. I'm ashamed to say this antique dining room table has been stored in our various garages for all of those years.....holding our recyclables. Hanging head low, this antique piece of furniture deserved more respect than we had given it. There is a time and place for everything. This was the time and the place. Yes, I believe 20 yrs is enough time to prep for a project.

I honestly planned on doing this project all by myself, but before I returned from the paint store...G-man had already started.....and he was determined to finish.



I did not get a picture of the true before, it was a dark maroon with a million scratches. We would not be able to re-finish it.


We decided to paint it....it's the rage these days, don't ya know. The red looks far brighter in the photo. I'm not sure if I like it red, but I'm thankful for all the hard work G-man put into it. We may paint it black....soon. Now, we just need to find some chairs to go along with it. I was too lazy to move things off of it for this photo. Keeping it real!


Then.....my parents recently brought over some benches that have been in their current basement for 30 yrs. They had been used in their previous home. I remember them well from when I was a little girl. They were used in our family room, around a gathering table......we would eat or play games around it. I especially remember every Christmas Eve.......my mom would fill the table with various appetizers and we would munch and hang out .


So, after a gazillion years....the benches were in rough shape. But G-man had a vision and determination. Plus, we thought they would be fun in our play room.

He completely removed the straps, cleaned the vinyl , spray painted and added Velcro between the cushions. We were thinking of covering them with a different fabric, but the yellow vinyl actually works well in our denim playroom.


Then....we looked in our own basement. We had forgotten about a series of wild life watercolors that my father had painted. They used to hang in the house I lived in when I was little.....they hung on the wall right above those yellow benches. I believe my dad painted them in the 60's. I could not pass up hanging some of his art on our walls.



I found another watercolor of his that I had been waiting to re-frame. I decided to pull it out and will just paint the frame. That will be our next project.....along with spring cleaning, planting a garden and the list goes on and on :)













13 comments:

Tiffanie said...

Very cool! I love the red!!! I didn't get a chance to comment on the earlier post about the boys comments...they were cracking me up! I especially love the beast of the meats...soooooo funny!

StacyB said...

I like the red!

I have been doing the same thing here. Not furniture! Wall hangings. I have been digging stuff out that we had at the other house and I forgot about. Finding spots for them.

Tiffani said...

I know we've discussed this...but I like it red!!

We did NOT discuss the benches and the paintings though (I mean hello in our 8786 things we covered HOW did this get left out??) ;)

I LOVE THEM! I especially love that they have history!!! Makes them all the more special!!

Life with Kaishon said...

The table looks AMAZING! I really love the benches too. So fun. A cool pop of color and great history : ). You are so creative and cool. Can I be more like you?

Alicia said...

You guys have been busy!!! What a blessing to have all those memories with the furniture!! Love it all!

tollesons4him said...

WOW! The table looks fantastic, G-man did a great job fixing it up! And the benches look great, too!
Hope you have a great weekend!

Carla said...

those pictures don't do those pictures justice. They are so much prettier in real life. Your father is a very talented man. I love the yellow benches. Not sure I love the red table though, but then again, I'm not a real red girl. I like black alot more!

carol g said...

I love the red table!!!! Don't paint it black, then it would just be ordinary, and blend into the background.
The benches are great...I love them in the boy's room. What a wonderful way for you to cherish your childhood memories.

snoodlings.com said...

Look at you! You're crafty! (in the good way, not the sly way). Aren't you proud of your accomplishments? Everything looks great! And those water colors of your dad's? Beautiful! They deserve a place of honor.

Daphine said...

I love the table being red! It would go well in my home. lol!Wow! You guys have done a lot! I love the benches too!

mama's smitten said...

The red looks great! Great accent color. Wow what patience and vision. Wish I had some more of both!!!

Anonymous said...

Love it all! I think the paintings are really cool - to have your dad's art on the wall, there is something about that.

Janainaz :)

Michele said...

I just love anything that has story. I love BOTH of these! You guys have been working hard. I love the red table, but I am so into distressing things right now. Maybe 'cause I'm so stressed all the time I want to DIStress something :) If you want to go with a black table . . . pain the black over the red. . . let dry for 24 hours. . . then take a sander and sand in various spots. We are distressing our cabinets and island and old furniture in our new house. I plan on doing a step-by-step post on this very soon . . . just in case you want to wait until then to see how distressing looks. Let me know if you decide to do it!

Good luck with any other projects you have going on.

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