Secondhand Score: Mid-century Coffee Table

I thought I’d save my latest mid-century modern score for a before-and-after post, so that I could share it in all it’s beautiful glory after a bit of refinishing.  But this rainy fall weather seems to want to thwart all efforts toward furniture sprucing up.  Seeing as this borrowed abode is a 900-sq-ft condo, the only space in which I can slather wood with stripping chemicals is outdoors.  I have no basement, garage, etc – and the one time I tried refinishing a table inside my condo – well, let’s just say that my brain cells may never be the same.

Here’s a little play-by-play of the sweet secondhand score:

As we drove by the yard sale in the drizzly weather, I took a quick peek at what they had to offer – just in case it was worth stopping.  I saw the little tapered round wooden legs sticking out below a pile of junk.

I shrieked: “Stop the car!  There’s mid-century modern!”

We stopped, inspected the table as though we just needed any old table, not wanting the owner to see know how fab it was – in case she jacked up the price from the enthusiasm in our voices.

Then she told us:  “I’d take $30 for it.”

“Hmm,” I said.

Pause.  (Insert image of my face, contorted in hard-decision-making mode, trying to convince the woman I’m not sure a beat up old table is worth it. Especially when I already have a fabulous Barcelona coffee table.)

“Do you think you can take $20 for it?”  (I asked, frugally, knowing full well that I’d happily pay $30 for this beauty…)

SOLD!  I had to refrain from doing the giddy-happy-I-got-a-bargain dance until we were out of eyesight.

 

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that beauty was $20, and just needs to be refinished.  Isn’t she a beauty?

 

Just look at those sexy curves.  They just don’t make [affordable] solid wood furniture like this anymore!!

And here she is in all her glory, her golden wood tones blending marvelously with my two mid-century credenzas.  I can’t wait to finish painting the living room’s back wall this week so I can hang some shelves and pull the room together more.  It’s been a long time coming.  See that ottoman in the back corner?  I finally found fabric, so I’ll be reupholstering that soon, too.  And then I have to do something about my couch. And I don’t know what “something” is. . .