I absolutely love these Martha Washington sewing/knitting tables. I think they are so quirky and fun as entry tables. This one, however, came to me in pretty rough shape. The drawers were in pieces (puzzles anyone?) and the bottoms of the storage areas were in bad shape.
Obviously, repairs were the place to start. I reassembled the drawers (I actually made new drawer bottoms and bottoms for the storage area out of 1/4″ plywood) and glued and nailed everything in place. The drawer pulls were wooden knobs and were completely stripped. I had an old set of brass knobs that were extremely tarnished, but with a little Brasso cleaner, I shined them back up.
I stripped and restained the top and drawer faces in a warm medium-brown. The body of the table got a coat of black paint. I distressed the edges to accent the beautiful shape of the sides. Finally, the entire piece received several coats of Minwax Polycrylic to provide protection.
This little beauty is ready for a new role by the front door. It has great storage for keys, mail, and even umbrellas.
