A Side of the Road Table & a Promise

This is a small furniture re-do but one that's been on my list for 2 years. I know that because I was picking up my son from 8th grade and spotted this 60's veneer table near his school and, much to his protest, asked him to pick up and toss it in the trunk. Between Naps on the Porch & Metamorphosis Monday gets all the credit for motivating me to finally finish this!

I sanded down the finish and polished up the brass bits that are on the legs - just above the second shelf and at the foot. I skipped priming the table as I wanted to avoid the fumes. Using a small sponge brush I was able to paint the table with 2 coats using a $7 sample pot of Farrow & Ball Down Pipe in a flat finish. (I may go back later and use wipe-on polyurethane) The gold edging was done with a tube of artist's acrylic.


Here it is all finished. All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. Be sure to check out more before and after projects at Between Naps on the Porch.

Changing a table can feel satisfying but imagine how satisfying it would feel to play a part in helping to change the lives of girls in a small village in Laos...

Several bloggers are coming together today in a collaborative effort spearheaded by Paloma Contreras of La Dolce Vita, in order to make a difference for a very deserving charity. Pencils of Promise is a wonderful 501(c)(3) organization based in New York, that partners with local communities and organizations to build schools in developing nations for some of the world’s most impoverished and undereducated children. (To watch a brief, informative You Tube video about Pencils of Promise - click here.)

Last December, the Pencils of Promise team visited a small village in Laos and by July 2009, they had built a new school for the village children who started attending classes on September 1st. This month, Pencils of Promise will be opening their third school and they hope to open the doors to education for more children in 2010.

In the spirit of the Holiday season, we are asking for your help today on behalf of these children. The donations collected through Pencils of Promise Blog Day 12.14.09 will go towards building safe, legitimate dormitory housing for girls to have access to further education. Currently, some parents are unwilling to send their children to school because of the danger of the huts currently in use. This new dormitory will house about 200 young Laotian girls.

We are in the midst of the giving season and hope that you will consider making a donation to this worthy cause today. Every little bit helps and together, we can make a difference!

TO DONATE - Click here.If you would like to stay informed about the difference Pencils of Promise is making, be sure to become a fan on their Facebook page.