Any way, things have been crazy busy around the house and the shop. Today I'd like to share with you one of the treasures I was lucky enough to fall upon, a 100 year old 8 foot long harvest table. Yes, it's true! I usually get most of my furniture through Craigslist or by word of mouth, but one night as I was searching for furniture on the net, I came across a local auction site that you could bid on things and then pick it up at a warehouse that wasn't far from me. As I scanned the items, nothing really caught my eye until I came to a picture of this massive table, complete with drawers! My heart began to race as I bid on it hoping no one else would catch on to this beauty and outbid me.
I waited impatiently for that week to go by and YES, no one else wanted this hidden jewel, so at last it was mine! When I picked it up, I was a little disappointed to see that the top was veneer and was peeling up a bit, but the solid brass feet and knobs made up for that. I could hardly wait to get this "beast" as we called it around here, home to start its restoration.
Has anyone ever tried to remove veneer? Yeah, not so fun. It took 4 of us with heat guns and putty knives to do it, but after 6 back breaking hours, the solid oak wood beneath was finally exposed! It was wonderfully distressed with all kinds of awesome knicks and bashes from many years of use! I sanded it down a bit and stained it with a dark walnut stain which I thought looked perfect for a rustic aged look, and applied 2 coats of polyurethane for protection and easy cleaning. The legs and sides were in great condition, so besides just reinforcing the legs a bit and the drawers, the bottom half of the table just got a lemon oil treatment, revealing its former beauty of what I think may have been quarter sawn oak!
After the work was finished on the table, I was in search for chairs to complete the set. At first I thought maybe a mix match set would look good, but then at my very first live auction, I came upon six 4 feet tall antique rush bottom chairs in perfect condition, and my search was over. After my husband reinforced them, I cleaned them with lemon oil and voila, a complete SET!
So now it was time to haul the beast and chairs to the shop. When I picked the table up at the holding warehouse, the legs were not attached for easy moving, but being the "yes I can" kind of woman, haha, I said let do it! And so, with my very strong husband, we carried this 250 + pound table in the shop and I set it up just so! I made a burlap runner to put down the middle and on that stood 5 old milk jars holding fresh white daisies, ahh, it was simple yet beautiful:)
Well I didn't think it would be around long, and I was right. The Harvest table sold after only 2 days on the shop floor! Some lucky family enjoyed their Christmas feast on that wonderful "beast" of a table! They however didn't need the chairs, but I'm sure they too will find home soon enough:)
