Felicitous ReDesigns

I scored this gorgeous c.1950's Merton Gershun for American of Martinsville coffee table. I was so excited to get to work that I completely forgot to take any "before" pics! I did contact the seller to see if he might still have any he could send so fingers crossed. There was a previous poor attempt at a refinish or maybe a cover up??? A reddish shellac or varnish was unevenly applied to the entire table. All that all came off first thing revealing the gorgeousness of the walnut woodgrain pattern. The legs are actually Ash (I think) so some staining and toning was needed to seamlessly marry the two wood types,

This is why I love walnut.… (refinishing my own cabinet). ; ; ; ;

Why I love walnut….

I am loving this wood grain!

I scored this large cabinet 16 years ago for just 20 bucks from my local Goodwill. It was originally the iconic hideous 60s orange often the shade of choice for danish modern furniture of that era. (If you were around at that time, you know the one I'm talking about.) The tag claimed it was teak. At the time I purchased the cabinet, I was pretty new at refinishing and looking for a project. $20 was in my budget so I took it home and got to work.

The piece is tremendously heavy and the insets on the doors seemed virtually impenetrable. SO, with my inexperience, and very few tricks up my sleeve, I slathered it in multiple coats of espresso gel stain from Home Depot and called it done.

I wasn’t terribly mad at how it turned out so Peter and a dear neighbor dragged it into the living room where it's lived accumulating board games, craft supplies, old bank account statements, and tons of other "stuff" that filled its cavernous compartments.

A handful of years ago the top developed two large black rings when a plant that sat on top was over watered and went unnoticed for too long. It had also suffered other dings and scratches and spills over the years. I finally decided a few days ago that it was time to address the damage.

Now, I am barely able to move this monster even a few inches to access an outlet or vacuum behind it, so relocating it to the garage for repair was clearly out of the question. I knew I was going to have to work on it in place. "It should be fine, It won't take long to redo the top"... I tell myself.

Three days later ..... Here we are.

By the way, I discovered it is NOT teak at all. It’s black walnut! (My favorite!) I hope my skills have improved enough to do it better justice this time around. Fingers crossed!

After and Before

My stencil arrived!!!!! ….All the way from across the pond 🇬🇧 Almost finished with these guys…

Fun MCM chest and side table set in the works here.

My design calls for natural wood drawers but they also had to be patched and filled all the way down the centers. Plan B: I created a natural wood look myself with a paint and glaze technique.

After a bit more reworking, I am ready to call this project done. You can find this pair available on Marketplace and Nextdoor.