Long term obsessive readers or midcentury wonks might remember this great little table I picked up off of Craigslist. I’ve been meaning to refinish it for years and I finally got around to doing it with family coming in to town. It wasn’t in super great shape when we bought it, but I have not exactly been gentle to it over the last few years.

This big dent came when I bought it, with a huge chunk taken out of the veneer. The glitter and paint was my own addition as I’ve worked on a few dozen projects in front of the TV. I was never very careful since I had the refinish project on my agenda.

When Atti was little and teething, he went through a bit of a puppy phase where he chewed on all our furniture. Now that he’s safely out of that age, it’s time to give this table a little attention.

The first step is to remove all the old stain and wax and grime. My favorite stripper is this orange one, and it’s pretty painless. Just get a little paint brush and spread the stuff on, let it sit for a few minutes and then scrape it off with a little paint scraper. Rubber gloves and lots of paper towels make this job easy.

Give the table a nice sanding. If you have a table like this one with a pronounced grain, you don’t want to get too aggressive. Sand in the same direction as the grain with a fine sandpaper, and then a steel wool. I didn’t want to use my palm sander because the sanding leaves visible marks.

This table has a wood veneer (as opposed to a common plastic veneer) which needed some repair. The sheets of wood veneer are available online, and I found the strips of veneer at Home Depot. The strips are made for edges and come backed with a netting that holds the glue really well.

To fix the dent in the veneer I cut a small piece of wood in the shape of the hole and stuck it down with wood glue. When it was nice and secure I went back and trimmed it up to fit the edge and gave it a sanding so it all fit nice and smooth.

The veneer on the side was all torn up and peeling off, so I took all the old stuff off and glued on some new sashing. My table was just a little bit wider than the veneer strips, so I just put on two layers.

To keep the strip veneer in place while it dries, I tied twine around and around the table to hold it all tight and secure. They do make clamps that will do this job perfectly, but I didn’t want to shell out cash for one little job.

When the glue is thoroughly dry on your fixed dent, rub a little wood filler into the gaps. When that dries, give it another sanding until it’s flush with the surrounding veneer.

Let the glue on the sides dry overnight, and then take off all your twine. Give the veneer strips a thorough sanding to smooth down all those seams.

Use a tackcloth or microfiber cloth to wipe all the dust off and paint with a couple of coats with stain. I used a polyurethane stain that sealed and stained at the same time. Make sure you follow the directions, let each coat dry thoroughly, and lightly sand in between layers.

Once the stain is on, the only way you can spot that patched up spot is the change in the grain. From far away you don’t notice anything, and best of all it’s all a nice solid piece now.

Now this neglected little table really shines. The glorious midcentury shape is highlighted by the glossy teak color and instead of a junky Craigslist find it looks like treasured antique. From now on I’ll have to keep my glitter projects far far away.

Remember those pushpins I got a couple weeks ago, just because they were cheap and I loved them? Since I’m such a clutter-phobe, I had to come up with a place to use them, so I made myself a corkboard and cleaned up my desk in the process.

Like every mom everywhere, my schedule is ridiculous, and the OCD makes staying on top of things a must. Not that I always succeed, so maybe I should say, the illusion of staying on top of things is a must. To create that illusion, I have calendars and lists and notes strewn throughout the entire house, wherever I am liable to spend much time. But then this creates a clutter that sets off the OCD too, so those two impulses are always fighting it out in my head. Here’s my solution: A pretty little framed calendar, with room for a corkboard to keep all the bits and pieces neatly organized and out of my way.

I have a few frames on hand that I’ve picked up at thrift stores, so I grabbed one that was 11 x 14. This fits a small desk calendar (8 1/2 x 11) with a few inches to spare for the corkboard. My best pal spray paint made the frame look all nice and new.

Using the cardboard backing that came with the frame, measure how much cork you’ll need after the calendar’s in place, and cut two pices of cork to the right size. Spray with a spray adhesive.

Stick the cork right onto the cardboard that came with the frame, lining it up at the edges, one piece on top of another. This will make it thick enough to use with pushpins.

Since I plan on using this longer than just a few months, you need the calendar to be installed temporarily so you can swap it out for a 2012 one. I just used some of my scrapbooking tape squares to hold it in place.

I didn’t think the seam of the cork and the calendar was very pleasant to look at, plus I wanted a little more pretty in this project, so I decided to make the calendar a belt. Cut a piece of fabric about 13″ x 5″, fold right sides together and sew into a long tube. Turn the tube right side out and iron with the seam at the back.

Wrap the fabric belt around the calendar and staple in place, close enough to the edge that the staples can be hidden by the frame. Put your frame back together, and hang up your calendar!

This calendar will go right next to my computer where I do all my writing, so I put up some inspirational phrases from Bird by Bird, my favorite book on writing ever. I made sure to use my cute new pushpins, and a cute charm I had on hand, along with a postcard sent by a friend.

Now I can have my OCD cake and eat it too. Calendars and notes and favorite quotes, and a nice clean desk. I feel so much better all ready.

This is one of the two tables I’ve been wanting to refinish that are currently listed over there in the sidebar. I got this little guy off of Craigslist when we first bought our San Diego house and it has been patiently waiting for some attention ever since. Since it’s life began probably at least 50 years ago it’s been covered in some unforgiving paint and it has been scarred up almost beyond recognition. The last person who tried to resuscitate it took off the custom drawer pull and replaced it with these odd little plastic pieces that made the table look like it was constantly in shock. It needed a refresher.

I spent a few days trying to get all that black paint off. The wood underneath is still really good, but the poor table has been abused beyond my ability to repair. After a few tries with the stripping gel it became clear that it was either sand the table down until there was just a whisper of veneer left, or commit to repainting.

I spray painted this table with the same primer I used for the bathroom stand.

I went back for more trusty spray paint. I just love how the surface finishes. Instead of that overpowering black that was on the table before, I went with a dark gray with metallic flecks in it. I wouldn’t call it glittery, but it does have just a bit of shimmer. It really changes the look of this utilitarian dresser into something a little bit special.

For greater longevity, I finished it off with a couple of coats of a clear sealer.

Unfortunately, the holes in the drawer were not drilled at a standard length apart, so I was limited in my hardware options. I did not want to go for something round again, I was trying to get away from the face effect of having two dots above that big open mouth. Home Depot had these little glass knobs, and I think that the hexagon shape is as good as I’m going to get.

In the action photos I’m afraid that the table doesn’t look that much different. Especially nestled up to my poor destroyed arm chair. But living with it I can tell you how much neater and fresher the whole thing looks. It was absolutely worth the effort.