Cocktail tables are those cute little tables designed to be placed in front of the sofa or next to a chair to be used when entertaining guests, as supports for beverages and other things.  I purchased a pair of these mid-century nesting tables from a Pieces of Time estate sale a while back.   Excited about my purchase I thought I’d use them as plant stands on my porch.  Here’s where I confess about my big mistake.  I completely forgot there was pressed-wood involved and the weather took a toll on them.  Although they didn’t get wet while on the porch, but the weather elements caused some damage under the table top.  (sidenote) Have you ever done something and realize you could kick yourself in the butt for making that big mistake?  Well that’s me with these cute nesting tables.  See how much damage they suffered for those few Summer months on the porch.

Ugggghhhh…. I seriously messed up with them.

They’ve been sitting my garage since and this past weekend I decided it was time to try to salvage them.  First thing I needed to do was to get the spider webs off and wash them.  As I was washing them the paint on the legs was actually coming off.

The bottom was crumbling a bit, so I gently wiped the bottom to smooth out the crumbling particle board.  Then I used Olde English lemon oil on the legs.  The wood soaked it up and you could see the color come back quickly.

I polished the leather top with the same oil.  Then I used Scratch guard for a touch of color and now the table looks so much better.  The metal brackets were too badly tarnished so I decided to just hit them with some gold paint.

It’s not completely 100%, but at least it’s got some appeal back and those legs have a shiny new look

This time, no more porch, but I brought it inside for cocktail use.

I’ll repeat for the next one and they’ll be stacked nicely in the corner waiting for the right time to use them.

Cocktails anyone??

So moral of this story…  Don’t “f” up a good pair of cocktail tables like I almost did.  Happy hunting guys!!

CIAO!!!