Please lay your eyes on the latest addition to our studio. Presenting…..The coffee table of all coffee tables. Drum roll please!
Sue posted the unpainted coffee table on her Facebook page Perfectly Imperfect by Sue and I commented “It’s mine!” But someone else got there before me and I was pretty upset, I’m a bit of a princess and this just doesn’t happen. Sue told me I was next in line if the woman didn’t show up as promised the following day. There were some tense moments with pins and needles. I couldn’t leave it to fate so I put a call for help out to the universe and it came through per the usual. The woman couldn’t make the viewing so it was MINE!
I’ve wanted a coffee table for the shop since I created the Hook Nook at the front of the studio. We had a tall table with a very tiny base so it was tippy. I wanted a spot where the gals could kick back and relax, put their feet up if they wanted, while hooking, chatting or sipping a brew. This table is 40” in diameter, a biggin, but absolutely perfect, reaching everyone sitting around it to put their hooking gear on. I could see my new table in my mind’s eye, all painted and sporting my company’s insignia, the beautiful compass rose.
Next we had to determine the colours. I’m a primary girl all the way and my shop glows red, gold and blue. The table was going to be front and center as folks entered the shop and next to my staircase highlighting the beautiful riser rugs I’ve been working on, so it had to be spectacular. We couldn’t use yellow in the design because that was the base colour so I asked for a nautical green as an accent. Sue worked her magic by mixing a bit of this with that and the green was perfect. She finished all the painting and waxed all but the top of the table, the drawer front panels are red on the left for port and green on the right for starboard. Clever eh? Green is by no means anywhere near the top of my favourite colours list, but for this project the nautical theme dictated I had to use green so I went with it.
After she’d done the base, she dropped the table off to the studio for me to do the compass, I have a lot of experience in measuring up the angles so I knew I could whip it off, exactly like I had in mind. She also supplied paint for me to finish it and after I completed that job, the next step would be for her to do the waxing to seal it.
The compass went quickly and the paint dried fast, especially with a fan blowing across the top so I was able to knock it off in less than a half hour. Tape kept the edges from bleeding so the points were crisp and clean. It was rather stunning if I do say so myself.
I was amazed at the quality of the paint. I had been distracted with Honey and several weeks went by before I got to it. Sue had delivered the paint in plastic containers with cellophane over the top, not exactly an airtight seal. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any skin on the top like regular paints. It was a bit firm but once I started stirring, it all blended beautifully. I only had to add a spot of water to the red to thin it out. What a great product to work with!
The paint was creamy and thick so one coat did the job. I was a bit stressed that it came off easily after it dried and before it was sealed so we kept an eye on it until Sue was available to finish the table. It experienced a bit of scratching on the red when I put something on it and fretted that I might have to recoat it but Sue said not to worry, that she planned to rub some of the paint off so it appeared stressed and old. Huh I thought?
Well I wasn’t prepared for the razor blade that came out as she rubbed it across the compass to remove any bumps or thicker paint. I said “OMG” and ran to the kitchen to hide as the blade cut through to the yellow surface beneath. My perfect crisp points and marks were scratched! It was like watching a train wreck, I couldn’t look but I couldn’t turn my head either. She laughed and said, “Don’t worry, wait and see!” I don't have any pictures of the razor blade moment cause I was hiding in the kitchen from the trauma of it all.
I came back out in time to catch her using a wet cloth to smudge and wipe off even more colour and I screamed again, “OMG” and hustled away. My perfect compass that I stressed over was now in ruins, or so I thought. I’m pretty anal and a borderline perfectionist so it hurt, I won’t lie. That stick somewhere shifted and dug in. It was painful to watch.
She kept reassuring me that all was fine but I was skeptical. When I came out of the kitchen and saw how the points and marks were now missing areas I kind of swallowed a lump. It was done so I had to accept it, and it was time to let that stick go. I could feel it slipping away, and the next thing I was a stranger, someone I didn’t know, pointing out other areas needing a bit of rubbing to balance the wear. It was actually rather freeing. I pointed and she rubbed and we worked until we were both satisfied and then stopped.
Sue let the surface dry and then patted on the secret recipe antique finish. It not only sealed the top of the table but it aged it as well, taking the starkness out of the bright compass and yellow base, toning it down to an aged patina. The antiquing actually made the distressing reasonable; as if the table had been painted years ago and lots of use had rubbed away some of the finish and motif. I gave Sue a thumbs up, pretty impressed at that point. What fun. How I love how my new table looks old, a perfectly imperfect fit in the Hook Nook.
The table has four large drawers that come out all around it for storage. The knobs she brought were nautical in flavour, monkey’s fists made of jute rope, how perfectly nautical for a rug shop in the beautiful harbourside town of Mahone Bay.
Well done Sue.
Sue posted the unpainted coffee table on her Facebook page Perfectly Imperfect by Sue and I commented “It’s mine!” But someone else got there before me and I was pretty upset, I’m a bit of a princess and this just doesn’t happen. Sue told me I was next in line if the woman didn’t show up as promised the following day. There were some tense moments with pins and needles. I couldn’t leave it to fate so I put a call for help out to the universe and it came through per the usual. The woman couldn’t make the viewing so it was MINE!
I’ve wanted a coffee table for the shop since I created the Hook Nook at the front of the studio. We had a tall table with a very tiny base so it was tippy. I wanted a spot where the gals could kick back and relax, put their feet up if they wanted, while hooking, chatting or sipping a brew. This table is 40” in diameter, a biggin, but absolutely perfect, reaching everyone sitting around it to put their hooking gear on. I could see my new table in my mind’s eye, all painted and sporting my company’s insignia, the beautiful compass rose.
Next we had to determine the colours. I’m a primary girl all the way and my shop glows red, gold and blue. The table was going to be front and center as folks entered the shop and next to my staircase highlighting the beautiful riser rugs I’ve been working on, so it had to be spectacular. We couldn’t use yellow in the design because that was the base colour so I asked for a nautical green as an accent. Sue worked her magic by mixing a bit of this with that and the green was perfect. She finished all the painting and waxed all but the top of the table, the drawer front panels are red on the left for port and green on the right for starboard. Clever eh? Green is by no means anywhere near the top of my favourite colours list, but for this project the nautical theme dictated I had to use green so I went with it.
After she’d done the base, she dropped the table off to the studio for me to do the compass, I have a lot of experience in measuring up the angles so I knew I could whip it off, exactly like I had in mind. She also supplied paint for me to finish it and after I completed that job, the next step would be for her to do the waxing to seal it.
The compass went quickly and the paint dried fast, especially with a fan blowing across the top so I was able to knock it off in less than a half hour. Tape kept the edges from bleeding so the points were crisp and clean. It was rather stunning if I do say so myself.
I was amazed at the quality of the paint. I had been distracted with Honey and several weeks went by before I got to it. Sue had delivered the paint in plastic containers with cellophane over the top, not exactly an airtight seal. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any skin on the top like regular paints. It was a bit firm but once I started stirring, it all blended beautifully. I only had to add a spot of water to the red to thin it out. What a great product to work with!
The paint was creamy and thick so one coat did the job. I was a bit stressed that it came off easily after it dried and before it was sealed so we kept an eye on it until Sue was available to finish the table. It experienced a bit of scratching on the red when I put something on it and fretted that I might have to recoat it but Sue said not to worry, that she planned to rub some of the paint off so it appeared stressed and old. Huh I thought?
Well I wasn’t prepared for the razor blade that came out as she rubbed it across the compass to remove any bumps or thicker paint. I said “OMG” and ran to the kitchen to hide as the blade cut through to the yellow surface beneath. My perfect crisp points and marks were scratched! It was like watching a train wreck, I couldn’t look but I couldn’t turn my head either. She laughed and said, “Don’t worry, wait and see!” I don't have any pictures of the razor blade moment cause I was hiding in the kitchen from the trauma of it all.
I came back out in time to catch her using a wet cloth to smudge and wipe off even more colour and I screamed again, “OMG” and hustled away. My perfect compass that I stressed over was now in ruins, or so I thought. I’m pretty anal and a borderline perfectionist so it hurt, I won’t lie. That stick somewhere shifted and dug in. It was painful to watch.
She kept reassuring me that all was fine but I was skeptical. When I came out of the kitchen and saw how the points and marks were now missing areas I kind of swallowed a lump. It was done so I had to accept it, and it was time to let that stick go. I could feel it slipping away, and the next thing I was a stranger, someone I didn’t know, pointing out other areas needing a bit of rubbing to balance the wear. It was actually rather freeing. I pointed and she rubbed and we worked until we were both satisfied and then stopped.
Sue let the surface dry and then patted on the secret recipe antique finish. It not only sealed the top of the table but it aged it as well, taking the starkness out of the bright compass and yellow base, toning it down to an aged patina. The antiquing actually made the distressing reasonable; as if the table had been painted years ago and lots of use had rubbed away some of the finish and motif. I gave Sue a thumbs up, pretty impressed at that point. What fun. How I love how my new table looks old, a perfectly imperfect fit in the Hook Nook.
The table has four large drawers that come out all around it for storage. The knobs she brought were nautical in flavour, monkey’s fists made of jute rope, how perfectly nautical for a rug shop in the beautiful harbourside town of Mahone Bay.
Well done Sue.
 Drawing the lines. |  Taping off to begin to paint the first point. |
 Red first.  Sue applying the finish, apparently a 'secret recipe' antique glaze. |  All painted and the blue is still drying. Sue uses Annie Sloane Chalk Paint.  Sue rubbing her hand over the finish. Perfection! |
The Hook Nook's new/old coffee table. Come on by and put your feet up and stay a spell!
To visit Perfectly Imperfect by Sue's Facebook page click this link to see other up-cycled treasures.
https://www.facebook.com/PerfectlyImperfectBySue/
To visit Perfectly Imperfect by Sue's Facebook page click this link to see other up-cycled treasures.
https://www.facebook.com/PerfectlyImperfectBySue/
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