Tag: mid-century modern

Furniture

Mid-Century Modern Cabinet

Jessica Smith

I didn’t go to enough yard sales last year — New Year’s Resolution to go to more this spring and summer! I find the best things when I go yard saling, like this mid-century modern cabinet I scored a few years back for $10.

MCM_Before

It’s sat untouched in our family room for years until I got around to sprucing it up.

While it’s a little hard to tell in the first photo, the piece was all scratched up.

Scratches on the top:

MCM_scratch

Another shot of the top:

MCM_scratched

And scratches on the door:

 

MCM_Scratches

I cleaned up the piece with soap and water before using my trusty Restor-A-Finish to touch up the scratches.

MCM_Top_before

To us the product, I simply put it on a paper towel and rub it into the cracks and all over the cabinet. Let it sit for about 20 minutes, then wipe the whole piece down. To finish, wax the piece using the same technique.

It goes from looking like this ^^ to this:

MCM_restorafinish

The scratches are still in the top, but are far less noticeable.

MCM_noscratches

It really cleans the whole thing up!

MCM_refinished

Now the piece looks great in our house. I still can’t believe I score it for only $10. What a deal.

MCM_finished

 

 

 

Furniture

Mid-Century Modern End Tables

Jessica Smith

Who is getting snow today? We’ve gotten a bunch of snow — well, a bunch of snow for Maryland. My dog is LOVING IT. He loves being outside and he loves coming back in to lick the snow off his paws before going back out again. He is addicted to the white stuff… at least the powder on his nose is snow, right?

Remmy in Snow

I shoveled the driveway, twice. I figured since I slept through the gym, I should probably do something like exercise today. Plus, I saw that shoveling snow for an hour burns something like 400 calories! Winning!

ME in Snow

Other than that, the hubs and I took it easy today. Earlier in the week, I worked on a pair of tables I purchased from a thrift store. I scored a pair of American of Martinsville tables at a local shop that were beat up but had a ton of potential. I wanted to try a new refinishing technique I had heard of, so I quickly snatched them up before anyone else could get their hands on ’em .

Table Before

The tops of the tables had seen better days. Other than that, a piece of gum on the bottom and a spill in a drawer, they were in great shape.

Table Before1

The technique I used? I tried a new product called Howard Restor-A-Finish, which allows you to touch up banged up wood without having to sand and strip the existing stain.

I brought one of the drawers with me to Home Depot to pick the finish that best matched my tables.

To used the Restor-A-Finish, I wiped down the piece to get the dirt and grime off. Then, I poured a little of the liquid onto a paper towel and generously wiped the product onto the table. Once the whole piece was coated, I went back and wiped off the Restor-A-Finish.

Once the finish was completely dry, I went over each piece with another Howard product called Feed-N-Wax. I applied the wax on both pieces and let it soak in for 20 minutes. Again, I went back and wiped off the remaining product.

Table AFter1

Don’t the tops look SO MUCH BETTER!!??!! The metal Xes, which are found on many American of Martinsville pieces, pop with the rest of the table looking so nicely. I think they turned out beautifully.

Table After

And that was it! It worked beautifully. The Restor-A-Finish doesn’t work 100% as well as if I’d stripped the whole piece down, but it does restore the original integrity of the piece, which I really liked. Plus, it is way easier and less time consuming for great results. All in all, if I just wanted to touch up a piece, I would definitely use this again. If I wanted to change the look and a feel of a piece, this wouldn’t be the way to go.

Stay warm out there! And enjoy the snow 🙂