Refinishing a Mid-Century Coffee Table

I had refinished a small Lane table before, but sanding down this new coffee table was quite a lot of work. Those spots I had mentioned earlier were very deep stains, so it's taken a good couple hours to sand it down (me and Ely together). It looks like it is almost ready for the first stain, and we have never stained furniture before, unless you count Restore-A-Finish. So here it is now:

Basically, we used that Zip Strip paint remover there and then sanded it down 'til it looks like this. Tomorrow we will finish it up, and pretty soon hopefully I'll have some successful "after" photos to share!

Meanwhile, I do have some other successful "after" photos. It is Ely's compact stereo! We used the dark walnut Restore a Finish and some  Feed 'n Wax. 

Beautiful! 

We also did some thrift store shopping today, and came out with some really good deals.

A great little ashtray I will use to put my keys in.

Pillows! Ely will try these on his new sofa. Such amazing vintage fabrics on these.

Fransiscan ware 'Madiera' glasses. Ely has a collection of Madiera at his house but has never found the glasses 'til today at Value Village. 

And finally, a large C. Jere wall hanging from 1971. Not bad for $7. We were leaving as I saw a store worker outside throw this into a sorting bin. I would have prefered a C. Jere from '61 but this is cool!

 TTFN

DELUXE JUNK

Sadly we have been mourning the passing of a Seattle institution: Deluxe Junk in Fremont. This store has been the place of many a great find. Just last year at Christmas we found some of the most amazing vintage mid century Christmas pieces ever! The last three weeks we have been stopping in to purchase a few of the remaining trinkets at bargain basement prices. Today we went in and the ol' gal is looking pretty empty, but we did find a couple of super cool things. This pristine Franciscan set of ashtrays was a particularly good deal at only around $40.

They are closing the 31st, so go to Deluxe Junk while you still can!!