Now, I just have to tell you this - although most all of my kids have benefited from my thrift store finds, none of them enjoy shopping thrift stores with me. In fact, they don't really want to know where I find the things I've given them! But, I finally have someone who sees beyond the old and used items to the hidden treasures available through thrifting, and on this particular day, I was at the thrift store at the request of my granddaughter, K-K. She was a good shopper, searching out items that met her requirements: t-shirts with no stains, plenty of fabric, no designs, and cheap! We had such fun looking for T-shirts that she could cut up and re-design.
And, we had to stroll by the furniture to get to the T-shirts. And, this is what immediately caught my eye. Look at the legs on that beauty!
Can you believe it? It looked to be about 5' long and it had an extension open on one end that was about 18". It was all wood, and in pretty good condition. I walked by, then walked back and pulled out the other extension. Both extensions moved in, up and out well, and when both were opened up the table was 8' long (yes, I had my tape measure with me)! It was marked $135 which included 3 pretty typical (read UGLY) dining chairs, one "Captain's" chair, and two arm less chairs. BUT, everything was 60% off, so the table was going to sell for about $54. I couldn't leave it there in that store, I just couldn't - and bought it on the spot - for $41.50 (I'm not sure how that math worked, but I wasn't going to question them!).
Now, one of the benefits of Camper daughter's kitchen redo, was that with the half-wall removed they would be able to turn their kitchen table length wise and have room for several more diners. Well, I thought this table might just be perfect for them. At 5' it would fit into their kitchen, and turned around with both extensions up it could seat up to 10-12 people!
So, K-K and I, with the help of two burly employees, loaded this thing up in my truck and brought it home. The two of us managed to wrestle it out of the truck and into the garage (she's pretty darned strong!). K-K got right to work sanding the table top. She now wields the sander like a pro!
I decided not to worry too much about sanding to raw wood. This table was going to be "distressed" from the get-go so that Camper daughter and SIL wouldn't need to worry about dings and dents. I even sanded the ugly chairs and re-stained those, then added new foam and fabric to the seats. And, I made a long bench out of pine for extra seating. It's a bit skinny due to a misunderstanding between grandson Ry-ry and the tape measure, and it feels a bit unstable (but, it isn't - it just feels that way!). It holds 3 people very comfortably.
This picture doesn't do the table justice. Even with a haphazard stain job it turned out really well. And, it works for their family. So, small-to-big table, skinny bench and 3 ugly chairs provide just enough seating for their family and one grandma!
