Painted Table

This is one of the best finds I've had from The Salvation Army- actually I should give the credit to Charlie as he's the one who spotted it.

I was a very dark stained wood, really oppressive and old fashioned. Lumped in with a lot floral fabric-ed couched and tile top coffee tables, it didn't look up to much until Charlie plucked from the abyss and we could see the beautiful Moroccan-esqu motif cut into the legs.

It's an octagonal shape as well which adds to the interest, the colour was just awful.

My mantra for second hand furniture is 'paint it white'. White painted furniture always looks beautiful, and if not beautiful it makes it into a blank canvas for what ever you might do next. Starting with white, I find lets the best features of a piece shine through, something you may not have noticed yet.

As soon as we started painting the table the groove that picks out the shape of the legs really stood out, before it faded into the dark colour but against the white it became a bold, beautiful detail. This additional line quality made me want to further enhance the motif, so I decided to add another tone to make it stand out.

I didn't was to be so obvious as to return the table to it's gloomy beginnings with a very dark colour- I did toy with using a bright orange so it would really pop. But being that we want to move soon I didn't know what space it would end up in and though something more understated would suit.

I chose the soft dove grey, it's just dark enough to pick out the detail without the surface disappearing into the natural shadow of the underside of the table.

It's lovely to finally start replacing the cheap, flat pack furniture we bought out of necessity when we first moved here. I don't regret not waiting to find the 'right' pieces, it's really important for me to have a space feel homely and cardboard boxes as end tables just don't do it for me!