The Garden Patio, revive an old table
Refurbish old shelves
It is so easy to refurbish old shelves and give life to an old boring table.
Recently my husband and I took down some shelves that held a place for toys and games. Now that our youngest is fifteen we no longer have much of a use for such things. We both agreed that the shelving was to good to throw out. What I needed was a new picnic table and that is what I got!
Our old white plastic picnic set was about to be tossed. That was until we gave it a face lift. Together we sanded down the white pine boards until they were totally smooth. Then we lined them up on the grass placing them side by side. We tucked a furring strip underneath the ends of all the boards the drilled in two screws for each board attaching the pine planks together to the furring strip.
We repeated this on the opposite side. With a dry cloth we coated the wood with shellac and let it dry for two hours. We coated the planks with three coats. Once the table top was completely dry we placed it on the top of our old plastic table. Suddenly our patio looked new again. We ditched the floral decor I was going with and went Adirondack style instead. I am so pleased. It really looks great. And I am so glad these nice boards did not end up in a land fill.
There is always a way to recycle something other people might just throw out. We all need to think before we toss. By Joanne Kathleen Farrell, author of Liberty for the Lion Shield