Tablescapes, Home Decor, Thrifting, Cooking

Monday, November 7, 2011

Is that a Five legged, quarter sawn oak table???

My mother in law and father in law have been gone quite a few years now.  After their passing, Mr. Brown Socks and I made several trips back to our home town to clear out the house he grew up in.  My in laws stayed in the same little house for YEARS and didn’t get rid of a whole lot.

 

There were many uncovered treasures.  Everything was divided up quite fairly and the whole experience was a nice one, under the circumstances.  It’s hard going through things and remembering back but I am so pleased to have many things to remember my dear in laws by.  Of course Mr. Brown Socks was most interested in tools of his dad’s and many things out in the garage.  I received some heirloom jewelry, an old teal blue fan which I will show you soon AND this:

 

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A few years after bringing this table home my friend Susan was out in the garage with me and I uncovered the protective sheet to show her what I had planned to refinish one day.

 

She so excitedly screamed out:

 

“IS THAT A FIVE LEGGED QUARTER SAWN OAK TABLE??”

 

She said it so fast that the words all ran together and I had no idea what she had said.  She had to repeat and said it just the same!

Well, I didn’t know at the time that quarter sawn oak is indeed a beautiful cut of wood and makes for a gorgeous table. 

This piece of furniture was indeed special too because it belonged to my husband’s parents.  He remembers it sitting in their dining room and eating from it.

For years I had planned to refinish it and maybe even use it as our kitchen table.  There was a major problem though.

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As a boy my dear husband and his brother used to use this table as leverage while they were sawing wood pieces.  You can see the results of their hobby!

I just wasn’t sure what I should do about this problem as there were saw marks on 3 sides of the table.  So procrastination worked for many years and it sat in the garage under a sheet.

I finally decided this table would be a perfect piece in our game room next to our downstairs family room and bar.

 

We stripped off all the old finish

 

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and filled in the slits with Wood Putty by Minwax.  The stain color was called Early American and matched up pretty well.

We discovered this wood had such beautiful grain and color there was absolutely no need to apply stain.

 

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Ta Da!!

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Yes, you can see where the repair work was done.  I wish I had applied a bit of stain or rub of some sort as the varnish makes the putty shine a bit.

Character, I call it!  This table has a story to tell!!

 

I think it will be fun to tell our grandchildren what happened to this family keepsake as we are using it for games or putting puzzles together or having a holiday meal.

 

My sister in law recently told me another story.  This was the table my mother in law would herd all her children under when a tornado was approaching!  Of course Deb was the only obedient child.  Mr. Brown Socks and his brother would run out to look at the clouds forming as dear mother in law would be hollering at them to come under the table for safety!  I can just hear her now!!  I love old stories such as this!

 

When I joined the family I remember it with a piece of plywood over it.  It was used as a ping pong table.

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Where is the fifth leg you ask???  We don’t know!  Somewhere a long the way, the fifth leg disappeared.  We never found it to bring home, so it’s anyone’s guess as to what happened to it.  Last week I had a handyman stop by and he is going to make us another leg.  The table also has FIVE leaves!!  Those still have to be stripped and refinished.

 

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On a totally different note, I now have a beautiful granddaughter!!  We are thrilled to pieces to have Amelia Leone join our family.  I actually was invited in to watch her come into this world. 

 

Beautiful Baby Girl

She is so loved already!

 

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Thank you for stopping by.

I am joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for

Met Monday

8 comments:

Sherry@Back2Vintage said...

First of all Congratulations on your beautiful new granddaughter!!! Congrats also on the gorgeous redo of the quarter sawn oak table. Oak is my favorite wood and I'm so glad you were able to save the table and all of its history!!!

Blondie's Journal said...

I'm so happy your family now has the table and is putting it to good use!! it really is pretty and you did a great job on it!! Hurray!

Congratulations on the new baby in the family!!

XO,
Janie

Paula@SweetPea said...

Congratulations on your beautiful new granddaughter!

You table is gorgeous. Love the beautiful grain of the wood and the memories behind the piece. Now that it is a game table, you can start a new set of memories with your grandchildren using it.

Debbiedoos said...

Congrats on the grandbaby. What an awesome table, and yes, I am betting many stories to tell.

April said...

Big congratulations on the birth of your sweet granddaughter! How thrilling! Love the wood in that table...definitely to be cherished!

Sue said...

Congratulations on the new baby! We lost both of my in-laws this spring and had to clean out their house very quickly. I also brought home some very special treasures with wonderful memories for my husband. Your table turned out beautifully.

stitching under oaks said...

babies trump tables!!! Congratulations! She is beautiful and so is her name. Enjoy every minute of her. The table is lovely too and it looks wonderful refinished. Hugs to you!

Richard Cottrell said...

I am so glad you refinished and restored your beautiful table. So many today paint everything and it is often so dad, especially when it is as nice and beautiful as your table. Great job.Richard from My Old History