Vintage Mersman Side Table Makeover (aka ‘Two Stains are Better Than One’)

Here is another piece from my stash. This was another Goodwill find from before they stopped selling furniture in my area. Do they still in yours?

This piece is a three-tiered, solid mahogany end/side table by Mersman.

It was well-built, sturdy and in relatively good shape, except for the water ring on the top:

I forgot to photograph it before I started sanding!

I loved the rich, deep tones of the mahogany, and wanted to keep as much as possible. I knew I’d need to sand the top to remove the water stain, but was hoping to just freshen up the stain on the other two shelves without sanding. And a fresh coat of paint on the frame would update this vintage piece.

So I got to work!

I’ve included a few affiliate links so you can find the products I used.

Supplies

TSP
Scrubbing Sponge
Spray Bottles
Surf Prep Sander
Tack Cloths
Minwax Red Mahogany
3M Hand-Masker Pre-Assembled Film & Tape Kit
HomeRight Finish Max Paint Sprayer
Paint Strainers

The Prep

I gave the side table a good cleaning with TSP and my fave scrubbing sponge (do you think it’s time for a new one?!) followed by a wipe-down with a clean, damp rag. There was a lot of dirt from sitting in storage for so many years!.

Sand

I used my Surfprep sander to sand the finish and water damage from the top shelf.

Stain #1

I had a can of Minwax Red Mahogany on hand, and the colors seemed to match when I tested it on a small section of the shelf, so I applied it with a foam brush.

When it dried, the color was close, but not a 100% match. I figured that the color might deepen when I applied poly later n the process, so I moved forward and started prepping for paint.

At this point, I realized I’d forgotten to sand the rest of the end table, in my rush to get some stain on the top. So I carefully scuff-sanded the frame to give the paint something to bite. My surfprep’s foam sanding pads were great for getting into the tight details.

I wiped everything down with a tack cloth, then started taping!

Just to recap - at this point, I’d stained the top, and planned to paint the frame and then - because of all those details on the frame - spray poly on the whole piece. I’m a messy painter. No matter how hard I try, I always accidentally get paint where I didn’t want it. So I’ve learned to work around this shortcoming by using copious amounts of painter’s tape. To protect the mahogany shelves, I taped and taped, and then papered and taped again. It looked like this:

A while back, I mentioned that we (meaning ‘I’) have a saying at the Reprise Vintage house, “No one was here to tell me No.” It’s how I explain my bad behavior to Big D (my husband). This was one of those times the phrase refers to. I was tackling this project at the end of our Midwest winter, so it was too cold to work outside, but not too cold to work in the basement or garage. I wanted to spray paint and poly, but I don’t have a spray booth. So sometimes I paint in the garage - and it’s always when Big D is not around.

You know why.

So, on the heels of the success of my basement paint booth (Big D still doesn’t know because apparently he doesn’t read this blog🙄), I thought I’d make a garage paint booth (less mess to clean up - or my car would cover it up! ).

Using the same method as before, I grabbed my 3M Hand-Masker Pre-Assembled Film & Tape Kit.

The kit has a roll of painter’s tape and a roll of plastic film. You stick the tape to a surface and roll the tool, and the plastic ilm sticks to the tape, which creates a curtain.

And it looked like this:

Not the greatest pic, but hopefully you get the gist. The tool is great for protecting walls and other surfaces, and it also works for protecting drawers and cabinet interiors while spraying a piece. You can see how I used it like that HERE.

Paint

The HomeRight Finish Max Paint Sprayer is a great introductory paint sprayer, and I have had success with mine (when I used it correctly 🙄 See that story HERE). Melange Artisan Paints in the color Restoration Bronze is an elegant and stylish color to complement the deep, rich mahogany shelves. When using a sprayer, the paint should be filtered (especially if it’s an open can/jar) so that lumps don’t clog the sprayer. I use these (seems the company’s been bought out since my last purchase).

It’s also a good idea to thin your paint slightly for an even spray. Just a little water, and I stir with a metal whisk.

Always test the spray on a piece of cardboard to ensure you’re not under-spraying (too little paint) or over-spraying (too much/wasted paint).

I start by turning the piece upside-down, so that I don’t miss anything when I apply the first couple of coats, then I flip it rightside-up for the final coat(s).

Here is the semi-finished piece:

Although I used painter’s tape, it left a ghost edge on the newly-stained shelf. Probably because I didn’t let it cure enough before taping. Luckily, I had to go to the hardware store for supplies for another piece I was working on. While I was there, I spied this!

Stain #2

The color, the high-gloss sheen, the one-stepedness (is that a word?) was EXACTLY what I was looking for! My heart skipped a beat as I bought it and rushed home.

(Cue the vinyl record scratch)

I realized that ALL OF THAT taping and taping and papering and taping - was all for nothing. There would be EVEN MORE taping. And, on top of that, since this beautiful new all-in-one stain wouldn’t need poly, I was going to have to apply it to the painted frame - by hand.

The upside was that this new stain would cover the ghost tape marks on the top shelf. An additional benefit was that, with a little additional prep, I could apply it over the existing finish on the other two shelves - and all three would (hopefully) be uniform in depth, color and sheen.

So I taped some more.

And I carefully handed-sanded all three shelves to smooth the surface, then wiped them down with a tack cloth.

And I applied the all-in-one Bombay Mahogany stain with the high gloss finish.

And when it was dry, I cleaned up the fine details with paint and a small brush.

And I am very pleased with the results!

And that is why - sometimes - two stains are better than one!

Frustrations, Flubs and Fails

Sometimes the plan doesn’t go - well - ‘as planned.’ And sometimes that’s better. Sure, I taped - and then re-taped. And I stained - and then re-stained. But after that first stain, I had this nagging feeling I wasn’t going to be happy with the finished piece - especially since I had no idea how to make those ghost tape stripes go away. And the stains weren’t an exact match, to me. I knew there was going to be more work before I was satisfied and felt I could put this end table out there for a buyer - and feel good about it.

So sometimes the frustrations are unavoidable - but I always learn from them. And that’s what life’s all about, right?

Thanks for staying - and staining - with me today!

Catch you on the Flip Side!

Victoria