I painted our coffee table last weekend and as I stroked a brand new, beautiful shade of dusty aqua onto the old nicked, scarred white paint, I couldn’t help but think of all the memories that little ten-dollar table held.
When I bought this curvy table at Goodwill twelve years ago, we had just bought our first home. The table was two tones of cheap wood, desperately in need of refinishing, but sturdy, nicely shaped, and in our price range. I brought it home and immediately gave it two coats of creamy white paint. It looked like this for the next dozen years, with a new crop of nicks and scratches added each year.
Since then, this faithful piece of furniture has almost become a member of the family. Especially if you judge by how many family photos it shows up in!
I couldn’t count the number of dinosaurs that have trudged across this table in the hands of our little grandsons.
The table hosted the first (and so far only) book discussion of my dear Club Deb friends. (We read The Shack, the first time it was released.)
It has served as a sturdy foundation for many a castle or fort or tower or dinosaur pen or racetrack to be built upon…
And it launched four little superheroes…
One of whom was NOT very happy about being launched. 😉
The coffee table moved with us to Wichita and just a few weeks later served to hold notebooks, snacks, and (of course!) coffee for a brainstorming session with some dear author friends.
It hosted a baby shower for my niece from Thailand and her precious little boy (with his great Aunt Debbie in this photo).
It hosted my amazing mother-in-law’s 80th birthday.
When everyone is home at Christmas, the adults (here, my four grown kiddos) play all kinds of games around this table after the babies are all in bed for the night.
Last May, this holy moment happened around the coffee table in our living room…the first performance of a touching and powerful song written by our friend Rob in memory of the son he lost to suicide.
And today, this almost member of our family wears a new coat of paint in cheery robin’s egg blue.
…the better to be noticed for all the future wonderful things that just might happen around a table that started out as a ten-dollar castoff at Goodwill.
Is there a piece of furniture in your life
that would have tales to tell if it could talk?
I’d love to hear about it!
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Wow! It really is amazing how many of your photos that coffee table snuck into over the years. Its new aqua paint looks fabulous!
The kitchen table I’m sitting at right now, as I type this, lived at my mother and father in law’s home for decades before they refinished it and gave it to us 7 years ago. On the weekdays, when my kids are at school, I write at this table. And every night, my family of five eats around it. Other than our beds, this sturdy old table is the most-used piece of furniture we have. I love it. 🙂
I restrained myself from putting in about 20 more photos, Becky! LOL! It was in SOOOO many! I was a little shocked how much a part of our life it’s been! And we have a table that sounds so much like yours, lovingly refinished by my in-laws and given to us. Wonderful memories!
Loved your tale of a humble coffee table, Deb. My favorite pieces of furniture have all come from thrift stores and yard sales. I love that we can use them in everyday family life and not as show pieces. I don’t want a house, I want a home. By the way, I love the new color.
Amen!I do have a few pieces that were my great-grandmother’s and I probably wouldn’t cover them with ANY color of paint. But mostly our stuff is re-loved and not precious. And I’m with you: I like it that way.
I love the new color of your table! Its so pretty! =)
One of my favorite pieces of furniture is my lovely oak topped desk that was given to me as a present. I use it as a computer desk and love it!
Love the photos!
Your oak topped desk sounds beautiful, Melissa! Wonderful that you use and enjoy it!
Some of my favorite pieces of furniture have come from thrift shops. I have a very old upright piano (best guess is about 1900) which I inherited from my father, who inherited it from his parents. It’s one of my prized possessions. I’m sure it could tell some interesting tales, if it could talk. I love old furniture. We also have an old lawyer’s bookcase from my husband’s grandfather, an old glass-front cabinet that I store old quilts in (mostly made by grandmothers and great-grandmothers).
So wonderful to have those things passed down from loved ones, Winnie! We have several lawyer’s bookcases that came from our parents. I would love to put quilts in one, but we have too many books! 🙁
I love the way the new colors of the coffee table brighten up your room, especially the robin egg’s blue.
Thank you, Vivian! I’m so happy with how it turned out!
Beautiful, Deb. We have a stool that belonged to my husband’s family. It came from somewhere faraway. We use it as a footstool but it has traveled from house to house with us and we treasure it so much. It’s been recovered on top and has two studying folding legs and a lot of intricate brass on it. My daughter used to pull the brass covers off the legs and play with them when she was a toddler.
That sounds like such a unique piece, Lenora! You’ll have to write a blog post about it sometime! I’d love to hear about its history!
Awww! What a fun post! We have my grandparents’ oak 6-leaf table, after my parents wanted a new one. I refinished it and my children have grown up around it. I would give them each a piece of steel wool each year, and they would help prepare it for another coat of varnish. We never had problems with wet rags or glasses left on the table. It reminds me of my grandparents!