More adopted furniture

I'm supposed to be writing about furniture today, but first I have to tell you how amazingly awesome the concert was last night. Watching Gillian Welch and David Rawlings together, in a tiny concert hall that used to be a movie theater, was magical. Goosebumps and lump in my throat magical. If you ever get a chance to see them, you must.

And now back to the furniture. Living in a neighborhood full of apartments means that the dumpsters frequently have furniture piled up next to them. Sometimes it is just what you would expect - broken Ikea bookshelves and sketchy couches with exposed springs - but every once in a while I find a sad, neglected piece of furniture that desperately needs a home.

Like this guy ... I'm not even sure I'll be able to figure out how to rescue him, but isn't the shape cute?



When I picked him up I was horrified because it looks like someone glued sand all over him. And then I had a friend over and he said "Oh yeah, they used that sand spray paint." Sand spray paint? I googled it and apparently such a thing does exist. And it looks exactly like you would expect. I'm not sure why one would want a table to look like a sand sculpture, but I guess someone thought it was a good idea.



How do I go about this? I think my first plan of attack will be to try to strip and gently buff the textured paint off, to get back to the wood finish. If it fails, I will do a thin coat of stucco to cover the texture and top it off with some glossy paint. Do any of you talented readers know anything about refinishing furniture?



Of course, if I ever get it finished, then I have to figure out where to fit it in my apartment. I'm thinking for now it could be a little foot of the bed bench.