Mid Century Refresh

I found these MCM side tables on Marketplace one afternoon. I loved the look of the clean lines and the ring pulls, they, unfortunately, had some damage to the original finish on the tops due to their age. It was time to formulate a plan.

My original thought process was to paint the body of the side tables and stain the drawer fronts in dark walnut, now this is the set that showed me Never make official plans for a piece as they ALWAYS change!

I went back and forth with these. Do I stain, paint-wash, or paint the drawers to match? So they sat like this for at least a week just so that I could weigh my options.  Before I knew it I was painting the drawers to match.  Now, it was time to finalize the hardware, which is an entirely stressful process in itself! I went back and forth on do I go with glass knobs, or fill the holes and use a single pull in the middle of the drawer? I didn't want to do that because you would lose the detailing between the hardware. So I was back to weighing my options, these side tables had me second-guessing my design choices. 

I decided to take my lunch hour to run into my favorite stores Lowes and Home Depot. Since they're right beside each other I was able to check out their Oops paint, which is ALWAYS and I do mean ALWAYS the first place I stop when I go! Then I check out their clearance to see if they have any hardware that I can use for current or future projects.  On this particular day, nothing jumped out at me on the clearance aisle, so I went down the hardware aisle. This is where I found some pulls that I was open to considering for the side tables. So I picked up 6 on the off chance I liked the look together. 

Once I got off work and got home I had a renewed sense of purpose! I was ready to tackle the side tables again! I tried the new jewelry on the side tables and they looked stunning! Now, the only problem was they didn't fit the existing holes. My mind is racing at this point, will I ever get these finished? I had already painted the drawers and didn't want to fill the holes, sand, and repaint, this was turning into a worst-case scenario. This is when I remembered a tip one of my flipping friends told me about an issue they had with some hardware, the other difference was they used it on the front and I was using it on the back. Washers! So the following day I ran to Lowes on my lunch break and grabbed a pack of washers, Minwax high gloss polyurethane, and a random oops paint. I was again excited to get home and work on my side tables. That evening I added the hardware with the washers and saw it all coming together, now that I had added the hardware I was second-guessing the High Gloss look from the polyurethane I had previously purchased. So I decided to use the Minwax finishing wax in natural, which I immediately regretted! So, here I am using mineral spirits to remove the wax that I just applied to both tables. During this time I realize something is missing, and the tables just didn't look how I envisioned them. What are they missing? The natural wood tones! So I distressed! They needed just a hint of something more! Something natural! Once I was happy with the look I sealed them with the high gloss polyurethane I originally purchased for them. They were finally finished, and I was elated! 

I took some photos and listed them on Marketplace. They sold within 2 days! I couldn't believe it! The struggle from these two side tables reminds me that Nothing ever goes as planned!  But, you can Always find beauty if you look hard enough!