A Little Love Goes a Long Way

I do love a good Cinderella story.  This table is a prime example of rags to absolute riches.

I was antiquing with my daughter - who I have happened to drag down into the depths of my obsession with vintage ware - and we walked into a little store on a quaint little Main Street.  It smelled like old books, wood, and I could detect the hint of something else: a piece that needed me.  I knew there was one to be found, so off we went: scouring the store for that one, hidden gem.

Now, in my experience, the hidden gems are never in prime locations; the window display, the front room, or even the whole main level.  No, they are usually in corners, in forgotten displays, outdoors, or in basements.  I did pay attention to the details on the main level, but the basement was where I knew I belonged so my daughter and I descended the dark stairs into the cool, bricked, non finished basement.

This basement has some very large pieces, some very expensive pieces, some very random pieces (vintage Halloween mask of a dog, anyone?), and as I diligently went through booth after booth, it seemed like I was going to walk away empty handed and disappointed....until my daughter said: "Hey mom, what about this??"

It was perfect, it was beautiful, I was old and sturdy, it was looking for some love, and it was coming home with me:

I have had quite the recent obsession with parlor tables.  I have some tall, some ornate, some plain, some round, oval: this one was square.  It is the first in a series of square parlor tables that I have acquired in the past several months.  I really do not have an explanation for this sort of obsession, except to say that I think the lines are beautiful, the design elements bold and demanding, the craftsmanship beyond compare and I cannot get enough of them.  It's normal to have an obsession with furniture pieces, right?

First step: clean off the cobwebs.  Second step: sand down the top.  Here's what it looked like after those two steps:

I then added a couple rounds of stain to the top of the table, some chalk paint (Old Ochre) to the legs, and dark wax to finish off the details.  I wanted it to be elegant, and regal, and reclaimed into the excellence it once knew.  What do you think?

The absolute best part?  It could be yours!  See it here: