One day I was taking a walk at the farm and I spotted this rusty old table. Now I must have seen this old thing about a million times, but I had never really “seen” it. I had never seen its potential until now.
When I tried to lift it, the top metal part stayed in my hands while the rest of it fell away. I realized I had my work cut out for me. So I had to take a quick trip to the metal man to reattach the top.
I sanded it down to get rid of all that rust. I got most of it and then painted it my favorite black using spray paint. Two coats later and it looked like this.
The next step was to find a shelf for the bottom. I found some plywood and had it cut to size.
The plywood had some holes on the edges from previous uses, so I decided to go along with it and add some more holes along the edges. 
To give it a little color, I wiped it down with oil and vinegar. I used 2 parts oil and one part vinegar. This cleans the wood and also adds much needed luster. What a difference!
If you have been following me at all you will know that I jokingly refer to myself as “the twine lady”. So to keep with the twine theme and to utilize those holes, I passed twine through them and attached the shelf to the bottom of the table. I was going for a rustic feel.
The last step was to add clear glass for the top shelf.
From this:
To this:
It is far from perfect, the bottom steel is not straight, and the rust would not come all out. But considering that I managed to rescue it from rust purgatory, I think a good deed has been done!
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And that is it for my rusty project. I hope you like it, I am especially proud of this one because it was sure to stay neglected at the farm if I had not spotted the beauty behind the rust.
I cannot express enough how happy I am to have started this blog and to share all of these wonderful ideas and projects with you all.
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You may also like:
The Story of a Dresser
Upcycling the Milk Crate Table
Runningonempty
Monday 20th of August 2018
Well done Mary! Saving the world from landfill, one piece at a time!
Mary
Monday 20th of August 2018
Haha! That is my aim Cath!
Larissa ~ Prodigal Pieces
Friday 24th of July 2015
That is amaaaazing, Mary!! I am so tickled you saved this piece and it looks wonderful (applause!!) I'm featuring your prodigal piece tomorrow. :)
Mary
Friday 24th of July 2015
Larissa, "the Godess is in the house"... Thank you so much for visiting! You know how much I love your work, and it is an honor for me to be featured by you!
Heather C
Saturday 25th of July 2015
I love a good rescue story and yours was great. Never heard of oil and vinegar on wood, what kind of oil did you use. Happy to have found your site.
Mary
Saturday 25th of July 2015
Heather C. I use regular olive oil, since I have plently of it.. 2 parts oil and one part vinegar. Its great for refreshing old dried out wood, and for cleaning them too.
Dori
Saturday 25th of July 2015
Έκανες πολύ καλή δουλειά. You did such a great job on this metal table. It's simply gorgeous. P.s. I like the dual language of this post, helps me keep up with my Greek :)
Mary
Saturday 25th of July 2015
Dori, Ευχαριστώ πολύ!! I do the best I can, thanks for visiting, and if you have a website let me know.
Keri
Monday 27th of July 2015
I love what you did to this table...very creative and beautiful!!!
Mary - In the boondocks
Monday 27th of July 2015
Thank you Keri. It was my first serious project. A labor of love!