Fresh Find: DUX Coffee Table

We picked up this Swedish coffee table on a recent trip to see family in another part of the state. It happened to be at a little thrift/antique store in a town on the way. We actually had visited this store once before and were able to come away with some pretty great pieces of furniture. Given that we were in the neighborhood, we decided we'd try our luck once more.

As you can see, the shop didn't disappoint. We spotted this DUX coffee table with a notched top and cane shelving underneath outside the front door of the shop while we walked from the parking lot. That's the kind of greeting I like when I visit these types of stores. We took a quick look at the table and were pleased with what we found. It was in pretty good condition overall, but the tabletop had been painted a shiny tan color. Not for me, but these things fan be fixed so we decided to buy it and take a look at the rest of the wares the shop had to offer. Once inside, we meandered from room to room to see if there was anything else waiting to be taken home with us. We had to move quickly because we were on a schedule so I'm sure that we overlooked a goodie or two. In the end, we only left with the table but next time we'll try to allot a bit more time to look through the rest of the shop more thoroughly.

After our trip ended and we arrived home in Tulsa, I did a bit of searching to see if I could find out more information on the table. We knew it was DUX from the stamp on the underside of the tabletop, but were hoping to find out more about it. I located a few photos and while I never found out the designer, I did see how beautiful the table looked with its original, unpainted top. The plan from the start was to remove the ugly, tan paint from the top but now I was really looking forward to what was hidden beneath. I'm not a fan of painting pieces in general, but I'm especially against it whenever the woodwork is so beautiful. Too many people are quick to grab the paint brush or roller due to the popularity of HGTV and DIY network shows. That's not to say there is no place for things like this, but I prefer woodgrain over paint anyday. To each their own.

After I removed the top from the base, I went to work stripping away the paint. Things were going pretty well overall until I discovered the reason the table was painted in the first place. There were a number of large, dark water stains at one end of the table and in the center of those things a portion of the walnut veneer had been sanded through. My heart sunk.

The beautiful tabletop I had in my mind was not meant to be. I looked into having a new, book matched walnut veneer put on top of the old, but in the end the costs were too high. So, reluctantly I turned to a can of black paint and a roller. It pained me to go this route, but at least the circumstances justified a paint job. I cleaned up the base while the paint dried and reattached the top after the paint had set overnight.

I still wish that the table could have been restored to its former glory, but the black top/wood base combination turned out to pretty decent so I'm not completely devastated. It's still a beautiful piece of furniture and I have a feeling that someone out there will appreciate it, black top and all, as much as we would have with the original top.