Featured Keep it or strip it- HELP!!

This farmhouse table was the dining table used by my maternal grandparents since long before my time (I'm 52). I rescued it recently from the old falling down farmhouse that my mom and all 7 of her siblings were born and raised. It was abandoned in 1970 when my grandmother moved into a new place on the property. I still have memory of this table even though I was only 5 when it was left behind but have seen it all my life when we would explore in the old house. I want to restore it to its old glory. I LOVE the original color and don't plan to repaint. My dilemma is this: someone (I'm thinking my mother, the eldest- she would've been 15 at the time) glued newspaper over the entire surface. The paper is dated July 5 (her birthday), 1953. Time and the elements have tattered and torn a lot of it, but there are still some cool ads and articles legible. I personally think they should be sealed over and stay where they are, my friend, a avid antiquer, says strip them off- the decrease the value. HELP!!! Please let ne know your opinions and why asap. I'm excited to get this project started soon - thank you, Cyndi

 

I'd sand it down and give it a oil or light stain.....to make it glow again....
but that's just little old me.....!
Others are bound to disagree....

Though...if you like the color so much......match it.....then strip it and repaint..
Just sayin..

 

It is your table and your family memories. If you strip it down to the wood, and refinish it, it becomes a refinished farm table, minus the memories.

 

you can't kill good memories...no matter what you do with the table !!

 

Well, let me ask you first... how / where do you intend to use it?

Debora

 

I'm not sure yet. The old house has been falling apart for years but it is getting really dangerous to go inside anymore. I ventured in a few weeks ago- very carefully. There's not alot left inside anymore except paper debris and old clothes and other fabrics rotting away and housing mice. There is some beautiful authentic breadboard and rough hewn lumber I plan to try and rescue as well. Going in to the old kitchen/dining rooms, there was the table. Although I vaguely remember my grandmother making biscuits standing at that table, something pulled at me and told me not to leave it there anymore. After a lot of lifting, dragging, pulling, and other obstacles, I got it out to the road and loaded in the back of the truck( it is deceivingly heavy and measures 6' x 3'). With eight children by my grandparents, my family is quite large and very spread out across the southeast. I have no children of my own and want to restore this family heirloom and preserve it for our next generations. I don't think I could sell it for any amount of money, you know?

 

You seem to love it as it is, and have no plans to sell, so why not leave it that way?

 

It has more value to you as a sentimental item than it ever would to anyone else in terms of dollar value. It doesn't seem like the type of item that will ever be worth significant cash, so I wouldn't worry about that aspect of it.

So I'd do with it whatever you wish. If you feel that the newspaper is worth keeping to preserve additional sentimental value, then I'd keep it. Personally I might find that look a bit distracting in my own decor and I think I'd have to strip the newspaper off, but that's just me, my style, my decor. If you're on the fence about it, probably keep the newspaper for now and see how it integrates into your house, give it time, and go from there.

Once you strip it, you can't get it back, so I'd say that until you're convinced one way or another, you should avoid changing it too much. Don't rush the project just because you're antsy to start a project, wait until you've fully internalized the decision and then move forward.

 

Whatever you do, keep the newspaper top as a memory? Have someone with good photographic skills take a picture of it. Use a website like Shutterfly and make an inexpensive poster you can frame and position next to the table?

 

Id carefully remove the newspaper and leave that gorgeous color. I cant imagine what your mom was thinking,and I cant imagine why your gram let her do it!

 

Preserving the paper is kind of a lost cause, though I could see it lacquered in place. Whether or not it would actually be durable over time, remains to be seen. I would remove the paper but not touch the table otherwise to preserve the paint. Would think that water would soften the paper enough to get it off. Hopefully, the glue is water soluble as well. Once off, a coat of paste wax should preserve and heighten the color of the wood and paint.

 

I'd buy a sheet of clear Perspex and lay it on top, carefully, with a a few washers round the edge to stop it touching the paper. Then, you can use the table, wipe it down and not damage the memories in the paper. If you change your mind, lift the Perspex off and strip the top.

Me, I love the newspaper.

 

Seems to me that... family history is in the table's condition, not in the table itself.

Debora

 

I'm with Ownedbybear - cover with acrylic (or glass) & enjoy. That blue is wonderful

 

I know, right!?!?! My mom would've MURDERED me if I pulled something like that!!! There's no damage under the papers whatsoever- whew! In saving all the l

 

I'm with Bear. We tend to call it plexiglass on this side of the Atlantic, but same idea. The problem with newspaper is that it's high acid and will eat itself eventually no matter what you do. The look it has now is in style at the moment, and I'd probably leave bad enough alone. Clean the dirt off, give it some paste wax, and throw the plexi/perspex on top and call it solved.

 

I know how you feel! We have a similar one that my Grandfather made in the 1920's. Apparently, it was always in their basement as my Grandmother's "laundry" table. It is rough Mission type construction. Grandpa painted a lot of his "utilitarian" furniture with an odd - distinctive color of green... a color you really don't see now. We initially tried to sell it when we broke up the house that Grandma/Grandpa and then my folks lived in. Since it came from a very well known historic local farm... we had a high price tag on it and gratefully it didn't sell. In the end my sister took it for HER basement work table... we didn't want to alter the color... so she just thumb tacked vinyl over it to freshen it up.

Leslie