Hand~Stained Compass Rose Table

I was recently contacted by an old friend from High School (ohhhh, too many years ago!) who had seen my work on my Facebook page and wanted me to do a custom piece for her. She had an oak drop leaf table that needed a facelift!

She had seen a drum table I had done previously with a compass rose design.

You can read about the transformation of the piece here

My client was up in the air about the color scheme she wanted. She really liked the two tone effect with wood and paint, but we weren't sure how the design would look on the wood with the graining showing through.

We finally decided we would give that a try with the base being a similar color to what was on the drum table.

I started with stripping and sanding the top and cleaning it well.

I then started with my Wise Owl paint in Stone Pointe.

I use Cling On! paint brushes, which are AWESOME - giving a perfect finish with no brush strokes!! These are all the rave in the furniture refinishing business, and I LOVE THEM! They come in different shapes (Oval, Round, Flat, and Bent) and sizes. They might look a little different than what you are used to seeing in paint brushes, but I'm telling ya... you should give them a try! You won't be disappointed!!

I painted the Stone Pointe, but really didn't like the color - it was a little more green than blue,

So I made a custom color using Wise Owl Peppercorn, River Rock and Anchor

Kind of hard to see the difference from the photos, but the custom color made a huge difference!!

I sealed the base with Polyvine, which is a wax based varnish and very durable!

Polyvine is also available in a satin finish. I buy my Polyvine from

Brass Tacks Vintage.

Now, I could get started on the top!

My customer didn't want all of the extra scrollwork I had added on the original compass rose drum table, so we went with the plainer version.

The oak on the table is raw wood, so in order to warm it up, I use a SealCoat before I start with my final sealer.

I sealed the top with Varathane. I also used my new Heirloom Traditions "True Applicator", which is the BOMB!! This little sponge allows the sealer to go on so smoothly with no brush strokes - not sure why I haven't tried these before now!!!

This beauty will be delivered this week! Hoping the client is as happy with the outcome as I am and will enjoy this furniture art for years to come!

Next up, I have a fun little project that anyone can do! An industrial update to a little cubby. Maybe you saw the hint of it above, but here's another sneak peek...