At school, I used to look forward to our woodwork classes. I loved the process of being given a brief, producing a design, then making something with your own hands – Mum still has the wooden clock I made. But we didn’t seem to do woodwork for very long; it was the same with our metalwork classes – the only thing I remember making is a small metal whale which did nothing useful, whatsoever!

So, despite loving the practical classes, I never got the chance to get good at them.

Fast forward to grown-up land, and there haven’t been many opportunities to hone my skills. But recently I was given a chance to breathe some life back into a wooden coffee table. Time to flex those sanding muscles!

Hard at work

A friend was moving house and offered her mid-20th-century coffee table to anyone who could give it a good home. We’ve played around with our living-room layout a few times; we settled on one, but for some reason never got round to finishing it with a coffee table.

So it was a perfect match. The table has a style that’s made a comeback in recent years, but it’s special to know that this is genuine, not a modern copy. I loved it immediately.

I don’t think my friend will be offended when I say it’s a well-loved table! It’d belonged to her family for a generous number of years, and she remembers eating at one end of the table with her sister at the other, at their grandparents’ house. I love that!

Original heat mark at the top fades with sanding. Surface colour changes too.

She was happy for me to give it a makeover, knowing I’d treat it kindly. Luckily, there weren’t any nicks or holes that needed filling in, so I got straight onto sanding down the top layer. As well as getting rid of the heat rings and liquid marks, sanding helps to leave the wood with a surface that’ll easily take the varnish or wood stain that you use afterwards.

I borrowed an electric sander, which made the job many times easier than doing it all by hand. Although I did resort to sandpaper wrapped around a block for the legs and magazine rack. I used #180 grit sandpaper.

Showing life’s blemishes

Starting to reveal its inner glow

New skin revealed

If you ever use an electric sander, please use a face mask as it produces an awful lot of dust! I did the sanding in the garden as I didn’t fancy cleaning up the mess indoors. Tip: sand in the direction of the grain – going against it can result in scratches.

Once finished, I used the hose brush attachment on our vacuum cleaner to remove the majority of surface dust, then used a damp cloth over the top.

Dramatic change

I finished the table with Danish Oil; it gives a durable, water-resistant finish. The colour was “Georgian Medium Oak” and I used a lint-free cloth to apply. It went on smoothly, and when it was dry I gave it another thin layer.

As I didn’t want anything landing on it before it dried, I applied the wood stain indoors with the doors & windows open, as it has a light oily odour. I did this while the boys were at school and they were kept away until the next day – partly because of the smell, mostly to avoid mini-fingerprints (“Is it still wet?”) over the surface (they can’t help themselves!)

Small scratch still visible

Scratch gone!

I have to say that I’m delighted with how it looks. I’m expecting to have to give it some more love every so often – perhaps giving it a light sand and another layer of stain or varnish. But I don’t mind that, because I want to give it a second long life in our home.

Like it’s always been there

Have you taken on any similar projects? The thought of doing something like this is almost always the worst part; it’s incredibly satisfying seeing it finished. Rather than buying something new, you can pick up bargain items at charity shops and some recycling centres, take them home and give them a new lease of life! 🙂

Bye for now!

Please note: my little project was done by trial and error, along with a bit of internet research. There are likely to be more professional approaches, so check with someone who knows what they’re doing before copying my process! 🙂