Surprise upcycling

I've never been much of a one for upcycling. I just don't have the patience, the physical capabilities required to do a tidy job, or the attention to detail. But needs must. And right now, we need new furniture.

For months I've been mithering about our dining table, and what to do when we move to the new house. Our current dining table is a much-loved G-Plan, which TLOML and I bought together when we moved to London. It was one of our first joint, permanent furniture purchases. And buying it involved driving to Hackney in a rented van, navigating our way through a cave of junk furniture treasures, and haggling with a woman who appeared to actually live in that cave. So it has sentimental value.

Sadly, that much loved table doesn't really work for us anymore. First of all, to protect it from play-doh, paint, and felt tip pens, not to mention toddler eating habits, it is covered all day long in an oilcloth tablecloth. At night, after Lady P has gone to bed, we take the table cloth off so we can eat like grownups. But it is swiftly replaced in time for breakfast.  

A rare glimpse of the usually-veiled G-Plan

Secondly, it's too small for the new place. I know, it's a high class problem. For three years it has been kept in its four-top configuration, expanding only when we're hosting more than a couple of people. Even fully extended, it only seats six at a squeeze, and will look rather lost in the long dining space of our new home.

Reluctantly, then, we resolved to sell the G-Plan and make do with one of the tables we have in the garden. Just till we can afford a proper, big, wooden table. In hours spent online and scouring furniture showrooms I have found the perfect table. In fact I've found several. But they are all north of $1k and that's just not in our budget right now.

Our ahem 'shabby chic' garden table

Mourning our poverty (house poor! it is a thing) I started doing some light sanding, ready to repaint the table and suck it up for a year or two. Then inspiration struck. It is, after all, a large wooden table - kinda like the type that we want to buy when we get our proper dining table. Why repaint, when we can upcycle!

TLOML finished the sanding, and I stained it a dark almost-black. It's still a little rustic for my tastes, but considering we found it for free in our back garden I think we can be rightly proud.

TLOML doing some upcycling - who knew?!

Ta-dah!

Now we can start saving for the the $6k beauty I truly covet.