Junk Picking

I know plenty of people pick up junk that is left out at the roadside. In my area of Central NY lots of people leave stuff out and when you see it you know it's free. Out here in the country it's probably not there for trash pickup because we use private companies which may or may not pick up the bigger stuff or stuff that's not conveniently in their barrel. Commonly, it's just junk but I will often stop for furniture. My rule is it has to be structurally solid or easily repairable and Definitely real wood not MDF or "flake board".

FYI, MDF stands for Medium Density Fiberboard and a sure sign it came from Walmart, Idea or some other discount retailer.

My Favorite Junk Furniture

Tables. It's the low hanging fruit of furniture restoration. If it's real wood it's usually out there because the top is scratched or gouged and stained beyond cleaning. Sometimes the legs are loose but easily tightened or fixed if it's real wood. This particular table is a perfect example.

The top needed a complete refinish while the drawer front, skirt and legs cleaned up very well with a mild degreaser. The first thing I did was sand the top to the point that I could do the fractal burning (AKA Lichtenberg wood burning) for accent which works best on bare wood. I don't remember how or where but I found this map which at least implied a maritime theme and took a bic lighter to it. Yes, all the burn damage to the map was me.

I used a product that is made to glue paper down to wood to hold the map down so it didn't float away when I poured the epoxy. The next pic is prepping for the epoxy pour. I wanted to coat the top and the edge but not drip onto the skirt or legs. I used cheap thin hardware store plastic sheeting and painters take around the table and also on the floor.

I did this and many other epoxy projects in my kitchen, thankfully I was single at the time because there is still epoxy on the floor to this day. Haha

I will cover epoxy in more depth in another post but suffice it to say there are 3-4 coats on this desk. If you want to know more or learn how to use epoxy I strongly recommend checking out Stonecoatcountertops.com. I make nothing from them but I use their epoxy exclusively. Between their website and their youtube channel you can learn everything you could possibly want to know about Epoxy Resin, how to apply it, and dozens of design ideas as well as many addon products. They are not the most or the least expensive but a very good product. One bit of advice I have is to always use the same brand for consistent results as different brands act a little differently.

This was my first furniture refinishing project years ago and sadly I did not take good photos but here is what I have. By the way, I took this finished desk to my neighbor's yard sale without a clue what to ask for it. The first visitor that day asked and I said $100 while holding my breath waiting for her to laugh. Instead, she could not get the money our of her wallet fast enough.

P.S. The photos are showing a reflection of maple tree leaves.