scullery table

do you remember the feature in domino – “turn this outfit into a room” – where the editors would choose a stylish ensemble and challenge a designer to turn the elements into a room?  well, this ad from elizabeth locke has been at the top of my tear-sheet stack for a while, and so i decided to play a version of the domino game with it.

this sweet old table came from one of my favorite junque-ing stops, gary’s antiques. it was perched out in his parking lot, missing its leaves, and had a broken faux-brass foot. the top was in terrible shape, with the old varnish coming off in huge flakes. with rain headed our way, gary was willing to make a quick bargain, and the deal was done.

here is the before:

kim and i decided this would be a perfect chalk paint™ project to team up on, and that it might be fun to follow the look of the ad and go a little over-the-top feminine, since this is often where an impromptu sort of tea party happens when clients or students are at the studio. (it’s also where you will find the wine or the gin & tonic bar at an evening event here. take note.)

after sanding the top to remove the peeling varnish, we began to apply old white…but the stain, having been released from its vigilant old topcoat, bloomed through. (which is something that has happens on occasion with pieces of this vintage, and with all other sorts of paint too – casein, alkyd, acrylic…it’s a stain issue, not a paint thing. and if it happens to you, it’s not because you’re doing anything wrong.)

two quick coats of clear shellac sealed the stain back in its place again, and after another light sanding, the old white went on without further fuss.

using arles and the large allover brocade (one of my favorites from royal design studio), i added a little pattern on the top.

kim painted the pedestal base in old violet, a nice complement to the arles, and i ran a stripe of it around the edge of the top, too, as an undercoat for a band of distressed gold leaf.

waxed and buffed, it’s now in service in the scullery at the studio, and gary can’t have it back. ever.