Finishing the Restoration of that Plant Stand. 11.7.2020

 I wanted to get it done so I could get the sunroom back.  Plus I didn't want too many unfinished projects around.

First, here is the completed plant stand.  The metal is painted "bronze" which is black with tiny metallic flecks that show in sunlight.  I did something different with the finials, described below.  The table top is now solid wood instead of that cheapo particle board.  It has a raised edge to reduce issues of spills, and a vinyl flooring surface to make it water impermeable.  The wooden edge is painted black with a surface coat of polyurethane for durability and cleanliness.  Up close, some wood grain shows through that paint, which is an effect that I like.

The finials came out interesting. This is what happens when you spray the with black spray paint and then spray with an incompatible brass look metallic spray paint.  I liked this cool looking textured and multicolored effect although I don't know what to call it.  The finials were a wood-look-something, maybe resin.  This is nicer.

The tabletop was exactly what I had in mind.  It's a little bigger because that's the size of the boards I used and I didn't feel like cutting one lengthwise.  I decided the added surface area would be a bonus.  It gives a little more room for starting garden plants this winter.

This is the underside of the table top, before I painted it all black.  The extra braces are glued and screwed to the main boards, which are also glued together.  I think this is a very strong result, probably stronger than a single wide board.  All of this is scraps from the shed.  I love taking something that was headed for the scrap heap and making something good from it.  Plus, I enjoy doing creative furniture refinishing.  I think the result here was much better than the original, will last longer, is more functional and is much more solid.    

What a mess!  And, I over-sprayed some areas of the porcelain tile flooring.  Fortunately, paint thinner and steel wool cleaned that up completely.

For comparison here is what I started with.  I almost can't believe I kept it :-)  By the way, I decided the drawers were not useful, and looked to junky.  So the replacement table top does not have drawers, just sort of an apron which adds strength and looks more complete.