A Tale of Two Tables & A Realization

Do you know what you want to be when you grow up?  I am still working on that one.  I know what I am passionate about and what I love to do, can do all day and lose track of time doing--and that is creating home decor items from salvaged materials.  I am still working on the making a real living part of it.

This past weekend while I was painting these two table (and a few other small pieces) I had a realization, or a better understanding about my passion.  

I realized that repainting furniture that I have picked up at garage sales and thrift stores is NOT my passion.  This may not seem like a major realization, but it really is for me.  It is freeing because it means I no longer need to search garage sales, dealing with the competition.  I no longer have to worry about everyone have furniture at shows painted in the same chalkpaint color.  It means I don't have to repair furniture, fixing the wobbles.

I have been painting and selling furniture and home decor pieces for 15 years.  In the past few years I have focused much more on building furniture from reclaimed wood.  But it wasn't until I was painting these tables that it really dawned on me--painting old furniture is not my passion.  

Now don't get me wrong, if there is a creative element to it I do enjoy it better, such as these table tops. 

And seeing a cruddy piece of furniture transformed by paint is fun and rewarding.  But, give me some old wood and let me saw and construct and build and paint with it and I am a happy camper.  I love all of the possibilities.  

So, while I won't completely give up painting furniture, especially pieces I don't build like dressers, I now know I want to focus primarily on the building part.  Yeah for me, yeah for self discovery, yeah for better defining who I want to be if and when I ever do grow up.

For this little table I painted it all in Annie Sloan French Linen 

and then stenciled the fun design in different colors.

We live in a college town and I am sure some college girl will snatch this up.

The other table was missing its insert so I added some wood, attached with screws from the underside.

The base was painted in the French Linen also.

I used the same colors on both, in case someone wants a couple of matching unmatched 
tables. 

 What have you discovered about yourself recently?