Sugar Plum Sundae

Vermont Maple Cookies

This week's feature is a flashback to my very first commission piece that I completed in 2019.

~ A Sweet Little Treat for the Home ~

Hello My Sweets!

This piece was a beautiful, well-made, solid maple, vintage drop down table and chairs set, made by the Cushman Furniture company out of Bennington, Vermont. It had a great vintage shape to it and both sides of the table dropped down, however, the dated orange color screamed for an update! No fear, it’s owner brought it to the right place! 🤗

This set was quite old and needed a good cleaning after years of polish, etc. I used my go-to, Krud Kutter https://amzn.to/3ciVtIm, and gave it a good scrub down.

I recognized that this was a quality piece of vintage furniture and wanted to leave some of the wood, rather than painting all 3 pieces. I figured that there would be a pretty tabletop under that horrible stain, so I got out my orbital sander https://amzn.to/3mOzGsi and got to work. It took quite a while to sand the top, since it was hardwood. I used 80 grit and went up from there as I progressed with 100 grit, and 220 grit.

You may be thinking, well, ok, that looks fine, I guess, but now what? I’m so glad you asked! I decided to let the natural maple wood be the star of the show, so I decided against staining it. Again, you ask, ok, so what now?? Hemp oil!! I had been researching hemp oil and learned that it is not only non toxic (which was important for a kitchen tabletop), but will harden after it cures to a nice protective topcoat. It also rehydrates the wood by giving it a “drink”. Ding ding ding!! Winner!! I chose to use hemp oil from Fusion https://amzn.to/3bLQxoR. Simply rub the oil into the wood in thin layers, waiting for each layer to absorb before adding the next. The wood will tell you when it’s had enough to drink because it will no longer absorb the oil, wipe the excess with a cloth. One key here is to be sure that each layer has had a chance to absorb. Otherwise, it can get a little sticky. The color of the wood became richer, had more luster, and a nice sheen when completed.

Next came the paint. My customer had requested that I paint the table to match some placemats that she wanted to use. They were wine themed and I wasn’t crazy about the prominent color options in the placemat, especially for the vintage style of the table. There was a tiny bit of blue on the wine bottle labels that I liked and thought I could work with. She agreed and I went from there to find a color match. Below is a picture of the placemats and the table runner. Can you spot the blue color that I honed in on? 😉

I found the most beautiful dusky blue paint from Dixie Belle, Stormy Seas https://amzn.to/2LJzaul! It matched beautifully and really complimented the vintage era of this piece. I painted the base of the table and the chairs with Stormy Seas using my favorite paint brushes by Zibra ~ the angled 2 inch brushhttps://bit.ly/3oI0V9z for the base and seats, and the round brush https://bit.ly/3oI0V9z for the spindles. They say that the right tools make the job and I have to agree. The round brush makes painting spindles so easy. I kind of paint them in a slapping motion while the shape of the brush does the work. Easy peasy!!

A few coats of Stormy Seas, followed by Dixie Belle clear coat in satin https://amzn.to/3bNuzlp, applied with my favorite method, a slightly damp car detail sponge https://amzn.to/2ANgY0K, and the transformation is complete! Updated, understated, gorgeous, and era appropriate! 💙

Thank you so much for joining me for Sugar Plum Sundae! Please check back every Sunday for more yummy recipes to transform reclaimed “junk” into sweet little treats for the home! 🤗

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XOXO

Michele

Materials List (may not be all inclusive):

Krud Kutter Cleaner/Degreaser https://amzn.to/3ciVtIm

Orbital Sander https://amzn.to/3mOzGsi

Fusion Hemp Oil https://amzn.to/3bLQxoR

Dixie Belle, Stormy Seas https://amzn.to/2LJzaul