I found this on the side of the road in our neighborhood when the girls and I went for a walk. Dave was kind enough to drive the truck down and pick it when I called, even though bringing other people’s side-of-the-road garbage home would be near the top of his list of things to change about me.

I really like the shape of this thing and I’ve sworn to myself that I will refinish it the right way, so it will actually look good when I’m done. I’ve redone furniture a lot in the past and I truly can’t think of a time when I didn’t do a half-assed job. This time will be different.

There’s a ton of old paint on it and it has staples(?) all over it. Weird. This thing needs a lot of work. That’s why I’m giving myself several months to do it. In the past when I’ve attempted to refinish furniture – like really refinish furniture, it’s gone something like this: little to no planning, inadequate supplies, completely inappropriate workspace, zero patience, and me: “wow, sanding is really hard and it takes a long time; this paint remover doesn’t work very well and it’s really messy; I think I’ll just hose this thing down with a few cans of spray paint instead”; voila!

Not this time. I’m determined.