Scavenger Chic

Vintage Card Table Makeover

• By Joan
• March 16, 2017
• 9 Comments

This project would never have come about if I hadn’t needed to see my supplier. My pallet supplier that is.

I’m working on a pallet project for my middle son’s wedding and I have a bunch of the thinner pallet wood but I needed the wider pieces.  I needed the good stuff.  

Luckily I know just where to go…my sister’s house.  You see, my brother-in-law knows people…people that work on the loading dock at his company who know he has a crazy wife (and sister-in-law) who like their old worn out pallets and he has built up quite a supply.

I load up my car.  Usually, the most pallets I can fit in my car is 6 but because the first pallet I loaded was a little larger, it sat kind of slanted so I could only fit 5 pallets that day.

It was still early in the day so I decided to stop by a local thrift store that I don’t get to very often, but it was on the way home.

With a back seat full of pallets, if I found anything it would have to be on the small side.

The only thing that caught my eye was this vintage card table.  Not particularly small, but since the legs folded in, he should be able to fit on top of all the pallets and he was in desperate need of a makeover.

Before I left the store, I had to try out the legs to see if they still worked.  Isn’t that a cool mechanism?

The legs unfolded super quick but I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to fold those legs back in.  I pulled and yanked for the longest time.  If I couldn’t fold the legs back in, the table would have to stay where it was.

I did finally figure out the puzzle, I had to work with two legs at a time, pulling on two levers at the same time.

There was hardly any varnish left on the wood parts of the table so all he really needed was a good sanding.

What looked like a leather top was really just textured paper.  With all it’s rips and tears the entire middle piece would have to be replaced.

And here are most of the supplies I needed for this project…upholstery tacks, fabric, spray adhesive,  a thin piece of 24 x 24 handy panel hardboard and dark walnut Varathane.

I know I show wood stain in the picture but it didn’t darken the wood like I wanted, so I switched to the Varathane, which has stain and polyurethane in one step.

Pull out the old center piece  and use that as your pattern on the new hardboard.

Use the new piece of hardboard as your pattern for your fabric, cutting the fabric a couple inches wider and longer than your board.

Center the board underneath the fabric and use spray adhesive to attach.  Fold back half of the fabric, use the spray adhesive then fold back over smoothing out any bubbles.  Repeat for the other side.

I gave the sanded wood  two coats of the Varathane Stain and Poly.

Put the fabric covered top back on and pull the fabric from below to tighten.

The upholstery nails hold the top in place.

I absolutely love how he turned out but now I’m going to be on the lookout for 4 folding wooden chairs to complete my set.

Have a great weekend.  Stay inspired.

Shared at DIY Salvaged Junk Projects,

Metamorphosis Monday, Wow us Wednesdays,

Talk of the town,

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