Reversing Course on the End Table Project

A few weeks ago, I shared over on my social media channels that I was looking to rework an ugly end table that I purchased off Facebook Marketplace for $10.

The table was a result of my desire to find something round shaped to go in the corner next to our sectional. The room was starting to feel slightly boxy and closed in, and I felt like something in a varying shape would add a little visual contrast. But I was having the hardest time finding something that would fit that I didn’t hate.

So I rushed the process and ended up making a terrible purchase that I was convinced I could make work. My original plan was to create a table skirt to cover the legs because of its particularly ugly carpentry job.

After I washed the table skirt fabric, I just became worried that I was going to have quite a bit of fabric going on in the room.

The bigger issue is that I have a huge holiday project I’m undertaking behind the scenes right now and didn’t want to complicate my life much further by starting a project that I didn’t intuitively know how to complete and that would ultimately compete with something I’m much more passionate about throwing all of my energy toward.

So, I decided to shop my house instead and pivot my project plans.

Let it be said that had I started by shopping my house at the beginning, I probably wouldn’t even have made such a silly investment by buying a table I didn’t love, no matter how cheap.

What do I mean by “shopping my house”? I mean looking around the house to see if something I already have on-hand could suit my purposes perfectly. Shopping your house can be such a great way to give a boring corner some fresh life by pulling in something already on-hand for just a fresh look.

It turns out I actually did have something that would work perfectly in Rob’s grandmother’s table.

The sweet little vintage drop-leaf table has spent its entire life in our cottage folded down into its dropped wedge shape. Honestly, I had completely forgotten it was round. That is, until we pulled in the vintage oak table and chairs set into the formal living room.

Suddenly, I was stuck trying to figure out what to to with this table that no longer fit in its long term home. Rob is very sentimentally attached to, for good reason, so I absolutely spun my mental wheels trying to figure out where it could fit. It took days of that poor little table sitting there staring at me before I remembered that it actually had leaves that popped up to make it round. And in the very next thought, I wondered if it could be the unexpected answer to my ugly table problem.

I popped those little leaves right up and said a little prayer that it would fit into the corner. What can I say, I’m not much of a measurer.

It’s a tight fit, and the leaf ever so slightly busts into the curtain’s personal space. But I don’t even care. It’s perfect. I happen to be especially drawn to vintage pine pieces, but this little table with its dark stain looks so perfect in that corner that I might actually be a dark stain girl now. And it’s subtly scalloped edges make it especially sweet.

Have you ever shopped your home to save money and change up your look?