Painting Projects: The Gossip Bench, Sideboard and a Frustrating Little Table

I still don't have the steel kitchen cabinet ready to show you--tomorrow, perhaps, we will get the hardware back on it and it will be ready for your viewing pleasure. Today, besides writing ghost stories and canning applesauce, I put most of the finishing touches to two pieces I started on the weekend, and pulled my hair out over the third.

First, here's the one I like best:

This is the gossip bench or telephone table I posted some months back. It needed repair, if you remember, and it has been waiting patiently for me to get around to it.

This is where Larry repaired a hole punched into the wood.

Now it's ready for one of the booths, and I am very pleased with the way it turned out.

I debated covering the original vinyl seat with a checked fabric or even a plain ivory piece, but in the end left it as it was. It does have a tiny tear in the vinyl which is why I considered covering it, but perhaps the new owner will want it as is, or will want to choose their own covering.

When I went to buy paint, there was a very limited selection of reds. I chose this one, a cranberry shade and I absolutely love it.

Second is this small sideboard. It's not a great piece, but I picked it up fairly cheaply and thought it was a good candidate for updating with some paint. It was a dull maple finish with those copper hinges and pulls, so I chose a sage-y green (called Olive something, go figure!) that I thought would show off the copper. Here again, we discussed replacing the hardware but it was so pretty we left it in place. The only thing I have left to do to this piece is wax it. It will have a modest price as it is not all wood; there is some pressed wood in it.

Last of these three is this aggravating little table.

We picked it up for a couple dollars in Pennsylvania and again I thought a bit of paint would really bring it alive. I went with the green again since the table is destined for a different booth, and I thought it would be a good display piece for someone's Christmas tree. The base painted beautifully, and so did the top--except for one weird spot that came right through my three coats of paint. Ugh. This evening I coated it again with a base paint, and you guessed it--the spot is right back. So I'm thinking about what to do next.

I still like it, even if it has made me crazy!

That's what I've worked on this week. Next week, I hope to get to work on two bigger projects: a chest of drawers and a small drop-front desk. We shall see how the stars align for that plan.

How about you? Any painting projects got you busy?

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