It's your table. It should make you happy. Paint! :)

Paint away :) What's the point of owning pieces you can't make your own?

i have that table and i just wonder if you paint it and you slide the leaves open, maybe the paint will scratch. it's a tight squeeze. maybe lacquer it after painting to protect it? please show the after pics if you do paint it. i'm curious!

there are usually mid century teak chairs in thrift stores. i never go shopping and even more rarely go to thrift stores, but i always see them.

Paint, paint, paint!

If you think painting it white will look fabulous and that you will love it more than something you could buy with the money it would fetch on craigslist, do it. Otherwise sell it, buy something you like as-is and save yourself the trouble of sanding and painting several coats. Modifying something to your liking is never a sin. It is an inanimate object and it belongs to you.

Paint away.
Imagine the joy the next lucky owner will get out of "restoring" the piece.

Alana,

I believe that it's your table and you can do whatever you want with it. Go ahead and paint it.

That said, if you're feeling guilty about painting it, maybe you should consider alternatives. Trade it for something that goes with your chairs. Sell it. Disguise it under a tablecloth or a piece of white or green glass. Or buy new chairs

Bottom line -- unless it's a really rare or significant piece (in which case you probably don't want to lose the historic or sentimental value), you shouldn't have any reservations about making your furniture fit your lifestyle.

You could put virtually any type of chairs with this table and it would look great. No need to paint.

The deciding factor for me would be whether it was solid wood or veneer on the top. Solid- don't paint. Veneer- then paint.

What's wrong with it as it is?
It appears to be teak - and in decent condition too.

you have to live with it and how often do you get free and creative liberty with a piece of mm furniture, i think the greater shame/sin here is painting it glossy white!

Paint it...It's better that you enjoy it and use it and make it your own than to just have it take up space because you feel like you shouldn't paint it. Make it your own and enjoy it!

You can save yourself the hassle of painting it, by selling it on craigslist and buying a white table at ikea with the money.

Looks like teak to me, in which case I'd say sell it and buy a finished table that you like.

I also agree with the person above who said that paint might rub off when you pull the leaves in and out. Minor scuffs like that won't be noticeable on natural wood but they'll be very easy to see on a glossy white painted surface.

Please paint it if you want! maybe teal? sunshine yellow? red?

I'm sorry but I just had to chime in. Stop calling us Baby Boomers "midcentury." It's some ridiculous new buzz word like that other one, "Boho". Baby Boomers are hip, not the middle of the century like we're from the Civil War.

As far as teak, nobody *I* know would have it in our homes. If we wanted to appear hip we'd go REAL vintage that's ATTRACTIVE and not those hideous and boring legs. I'm from Santa Cruz, CA. It's not like we are unhip here.

Here is what *I* would do if I were so desperate for a table I had to take anything I got, find one of those fabulous vintage green paints. The kitchen cabinets in my funky apt were ugly dark laminate. Now they are vintage green. I call it my on purpose look, in other words if you have lemons make lemonade and pretend that it came this way. Now my old place looks like it all fits in. If you want to do this "midcentury" deal then don't get teak. If you do then paint it a vintage green. Try Dutch Boy Fresh as Spring. Give it time to set up, if there is sun in your kitchen, you'll impress all your "Boho" buddies. Linda

Another vote for DON"T paint. As others said, if you want a different look, use a tablecloth or sell it for a few hundred on Craigslist and buy something you really like. As for not having matching chairs – what do you mean? You really don't need teak chairs or even mid-century ones. Anything else will do – you could even find a few mismatched ones and paint/re-upholster all of them, instead!

First, find out what/who made it.

I almost "rehacked" a similar style table only to find out before doing so that my set was worth $2,500 . Needless to say, I left it as is.

As long as it's not "valuable," just do whatever you like with it. Just know that if you ever do sell it, you won't be able to sell it as a "mid-century modern original."

Have fun and post the end result!

I say leave it as is. The wood seems nice, and if customization is what you are looking for have fun with the chairs. There are a lot of options there.

Hi guys,

This is a pic of the real table:
http://www.kitschykitten.com/?p=208

That's from our final walk-through before buying the house. It's a horrible shot and you can't really see the top, so I apologize for how useless the photo really is. I should have taken a better one before posing the question. That's probably why the AT folks plugged in a shot.

So, in short, that's not the table in question in the original post.

It actually is a solid-wood mid-century piece but the finish on the top is worn. It was here at the house when we bought it and has a twist-and-pop-up leaf in the middle that my husband and I think is really neat. I love the oblong shape since I'm not a fan of long, rectangular tables.

Bokjoy, I'm sorry about the "mid-century" label! It's just a catch-all phrase for the period the furniture was produced in. :)

I say find out how much it's worth, if it's not worth a lot then think real hard about the leaves scratching, and then paint if you accept the possibility of scratches!

*shakes head* Who refers to people as "mid-century"? And as far as describing objects as mid-century, it is, technically, correct when describing design that came from the MIDDLE of a CENTURY. The civil war was also mid-century....just a different century. Come on, bokjoy, keep up.

It's a "found" table and not worth spending a year thinking about. Do one or the other or get rid of it.

bokchoy, i'm sorry that that term offends you, but 'mid-century' or 'mid-twentieth-century' is a design term which defines a specific time period of furniture, accessories, art, and architecture. AT and their readers didn't make up that term. It has been around for decades. There's no going back now.

As for 'boho', that's a completely different term defining a different look.

Also, teak is a classic mid-century element, especially in Danish modern.

Don't paint. Every time I've painted something I've regretted it. I agree with comicgeek - sell it to someone who will enjoy it and buy something that's beat up and will benefit from a coat of paint.

You know, capegirardeau, you're right. To spend a year flip-flopping on something like this is stupid. AND I love the suggestions to just sell the thing on Craigslist and buy a white table that I do like instead of devoting a weekend to sanding and painting.

Baby brain. That's all I can say.

Ok, so off to Chicago Craigslist it goes! Just as soon as I take a decent photo of it. :)

A special thank you to our mid-century forefathers for designing such a cool table. ;) I hope someone else will enjoy it.

Hunted, don't be silly! Cute nook, by the way.

I have almost the exact same table and I absolutely love it. It's teak and it oils up beautifully! Personally, I'd be very sad to see such a beautiful wood painted over. I have sloppy roommates and I'm currently considering making a tablecloth to protect my vintage piece and to make our kitchen/dining room a little more funky.

I once painted a fold-out table glossy white, and it was a real problem opening and closing the leaves. They just didn't fit right with a layer of paint on them.

Will you commit some kind of terrible sin if your get out your paint brush? It's just a table! Live a little! Paint it! If you like it less after your paint job you can always turn to Craigslist for salvation.

bokjoy- your whole post described how un-hip you actually are.

As far as teak, nobody *I* know would have it in our homes.

Are you kidding? What exactly is REAL vintage? Turn of the century? Plus, the table was a found object. I'll bet she wasn't concerned about being hip when this table was left by the previous owners of her house.

All the furniture in your picture is very sweet. Wonder whether all of it came with the house. The table looks delicate and well designed... the leaf wouldn't function well painted. Glad you decided to pass the table on to the marketplace for someone who would like the look as is. BTW, though, many types of chairs other than Danish modern can look great with these tables.

We did end up with most of what's in the photo. I am still not sure if I bought the house just to get that credenza. :)

The woman, Anne, who's estate we purchased the home from, collected Danish modern and lived in the house since it was built in 1950. She raised 3 boys in this 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house. I picked up a cute secretary, the credenza, the table, some lamps, dressers, and a bunch of other pieces for a little extra cash at closing. So much of her furniture is left in the house that I feel a little bit of, I don't know, maybe it's responsibility or guilt. -Like I should do right by it.

i vote for don't paint. i just love the look. maybe some funky bright vases on top? ;)

I felt the same way about the obviously handcrafted items left in our 40's cottage and we had the best of intentions for these things, but I think passing it on to someone who loves it instead of always having a feeling of obligation towards it is a much nicer future for the piece.

I'm sitting at a beautiful old library table that I painted just the top of. (I'm not suggesting that for yours, but it works on mine.) I was hesitant, but I've never regretted it.

If she collected MCM, that table could well be worth some serious cash. Research it before you sell it- you juuust may be able to afford those Modernica chairs yet!

I have the exact same table too. It is teak. If you paint it you will longer be able to slide the leaves underneath, which is a really neat design feature.

I have the matching chairs, they are not great. They are too small and quite uncomfortable. We got rid of them. Because of it's simple line, you can put just about any chair with and it will look good.

So what's the second table made of? The chairs look like teak.

There was a company called Scan that had stores mostly on the east coast (I think) and that just went out of business after many decades. They sold imported furniture with a contemporary Scandinavian look. A lot of it was made in Denmark. The older stuff is valuable but the things made in the 80s and later are not so hot. They sold some pieces by well-known designers but a lot of it was more generic. Both your tables and the chairs look like this later stuff to me but it's hard to say without better pics.

Teak table tops are almost always veneer, by the way. It was too precious a wood even back in the 50s to use for solid tops.

bokjoy, you are most definitely clueless about design and furniture.

And who said mid-century was in reference to a person, or persons? We're talking about a table here...

Personally, I wouldn't. And if I did, I'd probably go black, not white. BUT. Paint it if you love the lines of the piece and it will go well with the chairs you have planned for it. If not, this looks like a nice MCM table in good condition, and you could probably pick up some money for it on Craigslist and buy something you really want or might be more in line with your style. If painting will make you love it, go for it, but if it'll just make you dislike it less, I'd sell and buy something you want!

I know it's your table and ultimately you should definitely do what you want with it but I vote for not painting. I love the wood tones that teak has and to paint it a glossy white.. well you might as well buy some MDF (you could even trace out your table on a sheet and make the same shape) and paint that over. If it's not your style though I agree with the others, sell it and buy yourself something that would go better with the feel of your home.