Coffee table brought back to life with TLC
There are some puritan upcyclists out there who think you have to turn old bike chains into a chandelier for it to be upcycling.
For me upcycling is just taking something down in the dumps and raising it up into something desirable.
You don’t always have to fundamentally change a thing. Sometimes a table wants to be just that— a table.
I found this abused old massproduced coffee table at the dump shop for $15.
The surface was chip board with a thin laminate, far past saving.
The legs were also fairly worn, but a little sanding revealed them to be solid and straight.
What more can an upcycler hope for?
I used the best part of a bottle of spray paint on the legs. Three coats, always keeping the nozzle around 20cm away from the surface.
Now I had to find a new tabletop.
The only spare wood lying around were discarded old fence panels. Never one to judge a book by its cover I gave them a hose down.
Low and behold, beautiful solid wood complete with weathering, texture, knots and, of course the occasional splinter were revealed.
They were in need of a good sand down. It was then that I noticed there were some really nice red stains left over, no doubt from staining when they still kept cattle in check.
I wanted to keep these, and fearing coffee rings on bare wood I applied three layers of varnish, using a fine sandpaper between each.
Varnish has an amazing ability to make things look like they were done on purpose and really enriches any colours in the wood.
I think it achieved both of these objectives on this occasion.
The table, spray paint, and varnish all together cost approximately $30. Not bad for a new coffee table.