Can YOU Leave Well Enough Alone?

i can't.  i mean i pretend i can for a bit but, eventually, i can't stop myself.  such is the story with this table, named read. as in the verb "to read a book".

before: rock maple

functional side table

i found two of these tables on CL for 25 bucks and plucked them up since i was hunting for raw meat to test-cook some of my painting ideas. and, though they're not my style, i'm a sucker for any piece that keeps our books within arms reach.

the deal was done and the painting begun.  (that last part should be sung a little bit in order to enjoy my rhyme.)

at the time i was in my aqua phase, so i naturally painted it aqua...and it looked terrible. next, i tried black over it with some aqua peeking through.  not good.  more black.  then, before i knew it, my hand painted a word right smack on the top.

a bit literal, i know.

i was NOT happy with the end result. it just bugged me but i didn't have a vision for it. my husband and daughter told me i had spent enough time on it and i should "move on" and it was "fine" (so rude!) and there is "probably" someone out there who "might" like it (wha?).  i  listed it on etsy in an attempt to get it out of my sight and to shut them up.

this was what it looked like when it was "done" & listed on etsy.

it didn't sell and didn't sell and didn't sell. i stuck it in a corner, put a sheet over it and joyfully painted other pieces.  la-la-la-la! paint-paint-paint!

but i could hear a sheet-muffled whisper from that corner of my basement fancy studio.

"paaaa-int me....", it sputtered from under the sheet.  "c'mon....you know you want to do it. wha? you afraid?", the ungrateful table taunted.

i blared the volume of my audiobook.  "i can't hear you!!", i sung back.

"no creative juices flowing, huh? ya run outta aqua paint?" it continued to nag and pick at me so i ditched it and raced to the beach for the month.

ahhhh....outta sight, outta mind.  but i did indulge in much blog reading and design exploration and an image started to sprout in my head.  it was tiny and took some time to form but, on a quick day trip home, i tossed the dusty sheet aside, grabbed my annie sloan chalk paint in graphite and slapped it on that snooty table in no time.  next came the AS old white and some cheap hardware store mailbox stencils and the fab wax with the "buttery" finish.

BAM!  how's that for a water-flippin'-fall of creative juices?

see anything familiar in there????

okay, it's done and i still don't love it but at least i shut it up.  for now.