A to Z April Challenge: V is for Victorian Table

This is a continuation of LAST APRIL’s challenge about HEIRLOOMS. When my sister and I cleaned out our parents’ home, we had to make many decisions about what to do with all the stuff. Which things are truly “valuable” and which have only sentiment in their favor? Should we sell it, keep it, or throw it away? To help ensure a future for our family’s heirlooms, I plan to leave a booklet for my daughters telling the stories of what they will inherit one day. (Not TOO soon, I hope!)

is for the Victorian table that once stood in my grandaunt Violetta Davis Ryan’s living room but now is in mine.

I have a love-hate relationship with this table. In fact, for the past couple years, I have been tempted to paint it, not the marble though, just the wood. 

Don’t freak out, you furniture purists, but I have been thinking about doing something like this:

However, I fear I do not have the steady hand to pull off something this beautiful and intricate.

I could easily paint and apply an antique glaze like this though:

Trends in furniture change rather quickly. I remember shopping for antique washstands with my mother in the 1970s and 80s. We would always express shock that our ancestors would cover their beautiful oak pieces with green paint. Returning old furniture to their former glory was the goal.

Recently with the development of chalk paint and milk paint, Pinterest has been flooded with old buffets, dressers, beds, tables, and chairs painted and distressed.

I have removed plenty of paint from old furniture. If I can do it, so can future generations.

Wendy

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