One Man’s Trash…

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I know y’all are familiar with the old adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” am I right? Of course in my case it’s another woman’s treasure but…..

I was out for a walk with one of my kids and several of our dogs one morning super early and came across a table and four chairs sitting at the curb ready to be hauled away with the garbage collection. It was a sorry sight but seemed to be sturdy which was my main concern. Most of the screws and bolts were still present and accounted for and nothing seemed broken. After several trips back and forth I got it hauled home.

The chairs were all different colors and two of them had damage to the seats that really showed up with the dark stain color.

Clearly the top had seen better days also. I’ve seen much worse though!

First I took all the backs and legs off the chairs and table and got them cleaned up and ready for paint. Then I did the same with the seats.

I used Rustoleum Heirloom White in a satin finish, for all the legs and backs. It took about two coats. All of the different colors covered well except for the red chair. For some reason every coat I sprayed on turned pink! I tried a stain blocking primer and it did the same thing. Finally I sprayed it with a dark gray primer from Rustoleum specifically for metals and after that I was able to spray it in the Heirloom white and it covered.

For the seats I used the Rustoleum Chalked in Serenity Blue! Ever since this came out I’ve been wanting to try it, especially this beautiful soft blue color. This was the perfect opportunity! Two coats and the seats were done. I did not fill the damaged spots on the seats because I’m actually looking forward to them wearing and getting distressed with use and starting to show some of the dark stain color thru eventually!

The table top was covered in paint and had places where the finish was removed etc but I really envisioned it showing the wood grain and having a weathered look so I got out my sandpaper and set to work! Quite a long time later this is what I was left with! I coated it in many layers of Minwax Poly in a satin finish as well and sanded with very fine sandpaper between some of the coats.

Voila! Here is my new treasure for only the cost of some cans of spray paint. This is the perfect little table for the kids to work on crafts, have a snack or maybe finish some homework. I’ve situated it between my kitchen and living room and I’m loving it! I will eventually get a rug for underneath it but for now – I’m pretty happy with my “trash”!

Yes, those two little photobombers on the chair are the ones who helped me find this.

I hope I’ve inspired you to look at a discarded piece a little differently. Just maybe there is something beautiful hiding under it’s nasty exterior, just waiting to be discovered.