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The Table That Could Have Been Free

I think Freecycle is one of the greatest ideas ever. We discovered it almost three years ago and it's been a huge blessing to our family. We received items we've needed (baby equipment & children's clothes), items we wanted (toy dinosaurs & holiday decorations) and items we didn't need or know we wanted  but quickly fell in love with (mink collars & a tassel necklace).  It's also been a blessing to give clothes, toys, and other household items we no longer need to local families. This summer when I was offering up some boy clothes I noticed that someone else was giving away a child size wood table and benches.  I'd been looking for a table to put in our dining room but couldn't find one that fit our space and wasn't too expensive.  I figured since it was free, the table was at least worth checking out.


I'm really glad I did. The table is the perfect size for my boys and when I fold up one the benches it fits the space perfectly.  It looked a little worn and I wasn't a huge fan of the wood but figured it would be easy to paint.  That's were I got myself in to a little trouble. I should of just used our left-over kitchen cabinet paint, I'd already used on other surfaces in our dining room. Instead I tried using clearance spray paint, was too lazy to prime, and ended up wasting $10 and lots of time. Finally I gave up on spray paint, resanded, and used our that cabinet paint.  It was frustrating, but I think I learned my lesson and I'm pleased with the final product.

You can see in the second picture that I turned it into a little writing/drawing station.  All the materials are from Ikea. I didn't like the original galvanized look so I tried spray paint again and this time had better luck. I used some Ace Black Satin we had on hand and then lightly covered it with Design Master Bronze. 

It's a fun use of an otherwise awkward little corner and the boys are loving their new space.

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Comments

  1. SkyQueenSeptember 13, 2011 at 3:55 PM

    LOVE this rachel! what a fun space!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Grammy GoodwillSeptember 14, 2011 at 6:53 AM

    What a great way to use it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stephen W HowardSeptember 15, 2011 at 3:57 PM

    I would have willingly gone without ice cream for a week to have that as a child. Is this going to be the children's table for fancier dinners as well?

    ReplyDelete

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