Can't resist trying to restore beat up old furniture. This piece has me wondering, any ideas?

Ruth n Jersey

Ruth n Jersey

Well-known Member
Location
Northern New Jersey
My Son recently brought me home to beautiful dining room chairs. This presented a problem because I already have 6 chairs so I had to put all the chairs around the table and put the new ones against the wall.

This caused another dilemma. Now the area between the new chairs looked like it needed something.

Not wanting to spend a ton of money I was scrounging through the Salvation Army and came up with this little magazine rack. It is a mess but Itable in Kitchen (800x600).jpgdrawer (800x600).jpgtable in place (800x600).jpg love the challenge of trying to do something with it.

I'm going to remove the magazine section underneath. I don't like the idea of a magazine rack in my dining room. I'll replace it with dowels for strength. I'll sand and paint some of it and maybe stain the top.

What I noticed after I got it home is that it has a little drawer. It will need a knob. That's why I didn't see it in the store. A little added bonus because I thought it was a bit to short,but when I pull out the drawer it adds length.

My question to you is this,"what do you think the hole is for?" Possibly for a flower pot? At least that is what I'm planning on using it for. Any other suggestions?
 

Falcon,yes the hole is in the drawer. Actually it is more like a straight piece of wood that pulls out. It has no sides like a real drawer would have.
 

I have a side table with a slide out "extension" too. Funny when I slide it out from time to time I gasp at how deep the rich mahogany is compared to the outer table, faded over the years.

Yours will look nice Ruth, with maybe pair of candlesticks?
 
My uneducated guess is that a "handy" hubby with a penchant for tools, specifically a jigsaw, and a desire to please his wife's every whim, cut the whole out. And I think you're right, it was probably to set a plant in. Or a round basket to keep pens and paper or knitting supples etc

Btw, your arrangement now is perfect. Good idea and the chairs look stunning there.
 
I never thought of an ash tray. I bet that's what it is for. I'm going to put a little artificial plant in it because there isn't much light for a real one and I'm sure I'd over water and my floor would be destroyed. RadishRose,candle sticks would be nice but not much room between the end chair for the dining room table and the new table.

My son said the whole thing is going to fall apart when I remove the magazine part. He lets be struggle and then he takes over which is my plan all along. lol I'll give it a try though just to prove him wrong.
 
If I were a knitter, I'd pile balls of different colored yarn down below and buy a round shallow straw basket to fit in the hole of the pull-out shelf and place knitting or sewing supplies in it. That would kind of be fitting for an antique and cute.

Finding the right basket to fit the hole might be tricky to find but would be fun to shop for.
 
I agree it looks like a little chair side smoking stand with the drawer for pipes, matches, etc... and a hole that probably held a copper ashtray.

At this point, it looks like a pig's ear sitting between those two amazing chairs but I have faith that you will transform it into a silk purse.

I can't wait to see the results of your efforts!!!
 
A lovely find Ruth, could it have been a small writing table, the hole for an inkwell ? I would put a plant in the shelf or on the table, adding a little colour to that end of the room
 
my ex took an old sewing machine table and we bought some ceramic tiles and put on the top of it ----it sure turned out pretty
 
Lara said:
If I were a knitter, I'd pile balls of different colored yarn down below and buy a round shallow straw basket to fit in the hole of the pull-out shelf and place knitting or sewing supplies in it. That would kind of be fitting for an antique and cute.

Finding the right basket to fit the hole might be tricky to find but would be fun to shop for.
Click to expand...
I didn't see this before I posted about putting balls of yarn in the bottom. It must be a North Carolina thing. :)
 
I finished my table project. All of you had great ideas as to what I should do with the magazine rack. Not wanting anything more to clean and considering that the bottom was falling apart I took it off completely. Problem solved.

I found a little clay pot that had a rim that fit perfectly in the hole in the top. I filled it with artificial greens.

The place mat was purchased on our Mother/daughter trip we recently took. Since I didn't see any live moose in Vermont I did the next best thing and bought the mat stamped with the moose.

Hopefully the table will hang together and fill in that empty space between those chairs my Son bought me. It took a lot of glue and wood filler. Now I know why they wanted only $4.00 for it. lol

Do you think it looks ok?table ready for priming (800x600) (2).jpgtable done 1 (800x600).jpgtable done with chairs (800x600).jpg
 
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