Thursday, April 25, 2019

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
© 2019, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.

12 comments:

  1. It's beautiful as is but if painting it would make you happy, I say go for it!

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  2. I like it as it is, but then I'm not living with it like you are living with it.

    betty

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    Replies
    1. I have so many antiques that sometimes my house feels like an old lady house.

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  3. I love your Victorian table! A little paint can be great too ;)

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    Replies
    1. I saw one like mine with the wood painted Chinese red. That was what got me thinking.

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  4. Very tempting.
    Stephanie Finnell
    @randallbychance from
    Katy Trail Creations

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  5. That would be a fun look! Quite the dilemma.

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  6. I remember a table like that at my grandmother's house...heavy, too!

    DB McNicol, author
    A to Z Microfiction: Vase

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    Replies
    1. Yes, but the marble is heavier than the wood part itself.

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  7. I would leave it as is, just because I suck at painting and that sort of thing. If you do it, update with photos!

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