Vintage 1961 Lane Guitar Pick Table

 

Guitar Pick Table Before Stripping

Guitar Pick Table After Stripping

This is a vintage, 1961 Lane Guitar Pick table, well known for its unique shape which resembles a guitar pick (or Ouija board planchette) depending on how you look at it. My customer had found it on the side of the road. 

Someone had decided it was a good idea to spray paint it black. Perhaps it had belonged to someone’s grandmother and when they acquired it, they wanted a “modern” look, not realizing that it was already a mid-century classic without the need for paint. Luckily someone rescued it from the garbage truck and saw the beauty of this table. 

Whomever had dumped this beauty, clearly did not know what they had thrown own or its value. After we had researched this table, we found they were selling on eBay for between $1600-$1700. 

Like Lane cedar chests, you can tell the age of the piece by looking at the serial number (usually found on the bottom) and backward, it tells you the date the furniture was made. This table’s serial number was 610250, which translates to May 20, 1961. This little tidbit of information is fun to know when browsing estate sales or resale shops while looking for or at Lane furniture.

The unique two-tone, notched top characteristic was still visible, despite the paint. Luckily its tell-tale markings could still be seen beneath the thin layer of black spray paint. This table needed plenty of stripping and sanding to reveal the beautiful wood covered by the paint. Once that was removed, it revealed the beauty hidden for so many years. The two-tone wood was a perfect complement to the original cut and style of this table, making it a masterpiece for many years to come.

Drum Table from Bleak to Beautiful Black

Drum Table Painted

Drum Table Before

 A classic drum table is one of the most loved furniture items in traditional homes. This popular table has many uses and can fit almost anywhere. This drum table had a unique top with what we originally thought to be leather, but it had a paper origin and couldn’t be removed, so stripping and staining it was not an option. I recommend painting it black and it was unanimously agreed that would be the best solution for the most attractive outcome. 

This table had wheels that were kept, but in addition to the original brass hardware needed cleaning. It’s amazing just how great brass hardware polishes up. What you almost don’t notice becomes the star of the show! Hardware is like the “bling” or jewelry for any furniture. If you like the original look but want to it show up better, polishing it is a great option. We’ve also had luck with painting hardware when polishing either isn’t desired, or the customer wants a different color. So many choices! 

Many of these tables were made in the late 1930’s, but some, like this one, is a reproduction. You can usually tell by looking at how the table is assembled whether or not is is an original. Older, antique furniture makers used much larger screws and their assembly techniques were significantly different than factory reproductions. The antiques are actually easier to work on because the wood is usually much higher quality and refinishes perfectly. 

There are some die-hard traditionalists that don’t like the look of painted furniture, but sometimes it’s the best option when the wood used either isn’t that great (as in mixing and matching) or doesn’t take the stain well. In our experience, if a piece comes to us painted, there’s a 50/50 chance it won’t stain well. But each piece has a different story and history, so until you strip, you can’t know for sure. But one thing is for certain and that is the end result is always better than what you started with, no matter what option you choose.

Bookshelves Go Black

Bookshelf Before

Bookshelf After

This was another large job we did for a Grosse Pointe client. She loved this old set, but wanted an updated look with fresh paint. She had been to Africa many times and wanted the bookshelves, desk, parson's table and chair to match the decor of her room. I suggested she go with black and she agreed. I also suggested to remove the gold accent corners as these only dated the pieces.

Once we got the furniture home, it was a long process of sanding every surface prior to painting. She had chosen a Sherwin-Williams black, which in theory looked like it was a perfect match, but when thinned to be painted, the end result was purple! Yikes! Luckily we noticed it before Jim painted the entire set.

Desk After

Desk Before

Quick thinking was needed here as we'd already begun the painting process and couldn't delay. We ended up replacing the paint with a Home Depot Behr paint, which was absolutely perfect. Black paint is a great choice when you want to repaint furniture as it is classy and matches most decor, however, the down side is that it's difficult to work with since the absence of light makes it hard to paint all the corners, and this set had many of those.

It's also difficult to photograph black furniture since the absence of light also makes it hard to capture details. If you use a flash, you get a "hot" spot in the photograph. I took the "before" photos outdoors and the "after" photos at my client's home, which wasn't the ideal place to photograph, but you get the picture. No pun intended.

Chair After

Parson's table and chair

Parson's table after

Tulip Chair Meets Vanity Desk

Tulip Chair Before

I bought this chair for only $5.00 at a garage sale. I was undecided

Tulip Chair After

what to do with it, so I didn't touch it until a friend had approached me to restore an old vanity desk that had belonged to her grandmother. I told her "I have the perfect chair for that desk, too!" She said, "Great, I'll take it!" I had finished the desk and asked her what she'd like done with the chair. She wasn't sure, so I suggested painting it black. She loved the idea because she has a Marilyn Monroe (black and white) bedroom and since we couldn't match the wood to her vanity desk anyway, why not paint it black. It worked! The black really was the perfect choice with the fabric that she'd provided which matched