Half A$$ Refinishing

Hi...yup I half a$$ed a project.  Gasp! Super shock I know.  It's a surprise I even got a project done. 

So, I've purchased a few less than great condition vintage items lately, but the items themselves are great.  Sometimes you have to look past the dirt, rust, just overall condition.  I've super cleaned some very bad looking Pyrex before with Easy Off Oven cleaner (shhh I'm not sure if this has been approved by the Pyrex world, but it worked for me).  I've cleaned up a vintage Cosco stool and sold it, and a rusted chrome bread box, sold it too.

Rust seems to give it's current owners the thought that the item is no good and they discard it for a couple of bucks.  Depending on the rust all you need is a little bit of elbow grease (very little, since I'm allergic to hard labor) then that $1 investment turns into a $30 profit, or just a piece of awesomeness for your home. 

Well, what I had here was not rust or baked on grease, but a really rough vintage end table. Fixing up wood furniture is not my thing.  I don't want to invest too much time by stripping then refinishing.  Maybe down the line with larger items when I could make a large profit, but not now.  I'll let you be the judge on how you think it turned out. 

Here is the vintage end table I bought a few weeks back. 

Some of the finish has flaked and worn off, and it had a big water stain on it,  but it was an awesome shape and from a reputable furniture company, Lane.  So I couldn't pass it up.  Stripping though wasn't much of a thought, and my mom suggested using a product she's used before Restor-a-finish.  So I took her up on her suggestion, but first I did have to do some sanding since the finish was flaking.  I used 0000 steel wool.

Yikes!  This got me a little worried, but once I started applying the Restor-a-finish it started to look much better.

So whatcha think?

I'll admit it's not perfect.  Some of it's imperfections did get a bit exaggerated, but I'm not a professional, however it does look soooo much better.  Um...right?  I'm in hopes someone else will thinks so too and maybe buy it.  Maybe they too will see it's potential and have the intentions of making it even better. I can only wait and see.

What half a--ed projects have you done lately?  :-)