My Oak Superstars

We are all of us stars, and we deserve to twinkle. - Marilyn Monroe

I'm on a single-minded mission to bring some love back to oak furniture.

I know, I know. The eighties slapped that hardwood around pretty badly, and many of us have yet to recover from the appalling abuse. Oak kitchen cabinets alone caused untold human suffering, not to mention the fake antique farmer's tables and rounded-corner entertainment centers that set infinite teeth to gnashing. Undoubtedly, oak has been a victim of countless heinous design crimes.

But surely the wood deserves another chance.

These two parquet Parsons tables in my living room date straight back to the mid-eighties. A DIY Christmas gift from my future husband, they were doused with the classic shade of golden stain, introduced to my hunter green ruffled couches, and have lived with me ever since. Though many times I've cringed at their sheer oakiness, I'm also forced to admit that they are good, solid, sturdy tables with classic lines and at this point, they lend a lovely history to my home. 

They, too, deserve to be loved. 

So this past week, I marched the rascals out to the garage where I sanded off every speck of their golden-oldie glory and applied three coats of polyurethane over their pale naked timbers.

Voila! This simple makeover freed my friendly oak tables from their decades of bondage and brought them forward to this very day and age, where quality materials and timeless design are always appreciated.

And now I love them. Don't you?