Lucky find

Without even trying, we found a match for a piece of furniture. It needs some work, of course.

For several years we’ve had a side table that belonged to Sally’s mom. A great example of mid-20th century production furniture, the piece is solid cherry, with good joinery, and is just right for our living room décor… except, we only have one of them.

Being that our sofa has two ends, we’ve always wished we had another. I’d intended to reproduce it to create a matched set, but you know how intentions go. But just before Covid, while walking around a large antique store (a favorite pastime), we happened across an identical piece.

Same maker, same wood, same joinery, same apparent age and, best of all, it was a great price. We snapped it up. Unfortunately, the condition and finish don’t quite match ours. For one thing, the one we picked up needs a serious repair – the top is cracked and a previous owner merely squirted glue into the break and called it a day. The “new” one also has a coat of polyurethane, while ours has the original lacquer. Finally, the drawer pulls had been replaced at some point in the piece’s history.

We immediately put it into service and, except for the needed restoration, it works perfectly in our living room. The cloth thing Sally keeps under the lamp hides the crack, and the differing hardware and finishes aren’t overly noticeable.

I didn’t immediately address the issues, but with warmer weather arriving and some anticipated free time on the horizon, the tables have risen to the top of my project list. I’ll remove all hardware and strip both pieces; remove, clean and rejoin that cracked top; then refinish both and top everything off with new matching hardware. When I’m done, they’ll look like they’ve always been together.