Not quite Spring project 2:

By now I'm sure you are all sick of hearing about my dining room dilemma. I really struggled with this whole thing. Especially given the size of my budget (as close to zero as possible).

Initially I looked for tables that were my dream table but the pricing scared me! This whole style that I'm into right now is relatively new to me and what if I change my mind? It's risky business, so I decided to go the cheap (er) route and buy something with potential and make it my own.

I found this clawfoot table on KSL.com listed for $700. I thought that was a great price given the detail and the fact that it came with six chairs that also had a lot of detail. I went and looked at the furniture and could tell that it had been painted.



Obviously not the top, but the legs and chairs had all been recently painted, meaning that the wood underneath had some potential.



Black really isn't my thing, and the seat covers were horrible (sad because the girl I bought the set from told me she recently recovered them and painted the table legs black, the chairs were already black). I know I could have found the same set at a fraction of the price and not had to strip her black paint off, but I've been looking for a while and hadn't found anything.



I offered her $550, sold.

Five days and 90 hours (x2) later:



The paint was gone but what to do about the seat covers? I tried this:



But decided on linen instead:



I haven't put the final finish on yet. There are multiple coats of glaze and I'm deciding between wax and polyurethane. I brought it in from the garage to live with it for a little while before making a final decision.

The finish in these pictures is just raw wood that has been glazed (Ralph Lauren,Tea Stain) and rubbed, glazed, burnished, rubbed, glazed and so on...ask for more details.

So far,

I like it quite well.

My mom actually came into town to help me do this over spring break, and I couldn't have done it with out her. She is amazing at stuff like this. She made a template for slip covers for the chairs and took the linen home to make them.

She told me that my grandma taught her how to refinish furniture when she and my dad just got married- it's neat. I am liking the way the table it turning out.

To check out other thrifty finds check out: Southern Hospitality