Step by step woodyworking

Behold the throw-away table my sister picked up off the street! At first I said, "nah, what the heck am I going to make with this clunky thing??" But she brought it over anyway. 

I'm really into the beachy subway art theme so I thought why not try it on this table?

It's not going to cost anything but my time. 

Here is the Art piece I had done first.

Time to switch things up. In the LA area, these mid century credenzas are quite

the hot ticket item.  But to find one on the cheap is rare. But I did.

 I believe these retro vintage pieces look best either natural or bold colors of the era. I gave this one both.  Tangerine baby!  Now I realize this style isnt for everyone. I dont think its necessarily for 

me.  But that doesnt mean I dont appreciate it or enjoy working on it. Its different. 

I get so tired of doing the same thing on the same pieces. I like to mix it up and try

out different techniques and different colors. So, here ya go!

I could not save the sides or top. 

This walnut veneer finished up beautifully! Look how it pops w/the orange.

I thought about lugging this into the house for staging, but this beast is heavy and at least 6 long! 

 So, use your imagination and ignore my icky garage floor.

 I used Martha Stewarts metallic gold paint. And a gold spray metallic on the handles. 

 This was by far the most time consuming paint job! Took me forever because of the
 3 different colors. I had to keep doing touch-ups. All the gold edging on the drawer fronts were done by hand with a small brush. 2-3 coats. The gray took numerous coats too. Once I would sand, I saw bare spots and would do touch-ups. Ditto with the black paint! Oy. I thought I would never finish!
I think on a few of the drawers I taped and then sprayed the molding part with a gold spray paint.
I figured it would be easier to get a good base and then just do a touch up with a small brush
and the MS metallic paint. However, as you can see, the taping off part was not a fun party.
No-siree-Bob! Wayyyyy too much extra effort. It didnt matter what I did, it was going to be
time consuming. And it was.

Close-up of the detail work on the drawer front.

Putting a nice finish on black chalk paint can be tricky. Ive found that using a steel wool

to lightly smooth and sand is better than a harsher grit. And using the steel wool to buff the wax

off puts on a nice sheen.

 In hindsight, I probably just should have gone with an enamel. 

But I did want some light distressing. I used a wipe on urethane on top, sanded 

with steel wool, and then used numerous coats of paste wax. The top is smooth as silk!

Same view, taken during day and night.