Pepper - An Empire Case Goods Co. Antique

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I found a sweet little antique bedroom side table from the Empire Case Goods Company at an estate auction. It was in bad shape and everyone was passing it by like it had no more life to it. I knew better.
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

I immediately knew it was a great find and fought till I won it. It was a bit pricey, but totally worth it. Pricey for me might not mean the same thing to others... 

Upon a bit of research, I found the manufacturer of this side table, the Empire Case Goods Co., listed in a 620 page library book of Jamestown, New York 1915-1916 Town Directory. From what I've read elsewhere, the company was formed in 1912. 
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
This side table was sold by the Donath Furniture Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their tag was stapled to the bottom of the table.
One source said Empire burned to the ground in 1935 but remained in business, eventually leaving Jamestown in the early 1950s.
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

I couldn't find any information on this store, but it is quite intriguing to know that it traveled from New York to the store in Milwaukee, WI and eventually to Stevens Point, WI, where we bought it and took it home to be updated and preserved with Old Fashioned Milk Paint and Hope's 100% Tung Oil.

It is fitting that OFMP covers this piece since the milk paint exactly replicates the paint finish of Colonial furniture using milk protein, lime and earth pigments. The look and feel of a surface painted today with Old Fashioned Milk Paint mirrors what was found on furniture, walls and floors in country houses in Colonial America.
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

The Transformation

Materials Used in This Project

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The table was in rough shape and needed some repair and a good cleaning.
First I cleaned it with (affiliate) Awesome spray (check for this at your Dollar Store) and then scrubbed it with a green scrubbie and a 50/50 mix of water and (affiliate) denatured alcohol. It was so very filthy! Then it got a good sanding to be sure it would take the paint.

My DH sanded the shelf and top down to bare wood since it was a bit rough.
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

The first plan was to paint it a coral color, but it turned out more of a pink - I couldn't get the mix right because I didn't have any yellow to add. So I just played with it and came up with a color that I was quite pleased with.

Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

It's a kind of dark brown gray plum-ish that changes colors with the time of day. It looks brown under my kitchen lights at night but purplish in the daytime with natural light. As the day darkens, it takes on a grayish cast.

Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

I used a mix of (affiliate) Salem Red, Oyster White, Snow White, Driftwood, and Pitch Black. It's a one of a kind color. That's the beauty of OFMP. It allows you creative license. It went on very smoothly with my Cling On brush.

 

In the first coat I added (affiliate) Extra Bond to my newly created Pepper Paint in order to be used as a primer. (I call this side table "Pepper" because plum was my mom's fave color and her nickname was "Pepper.") Extra Bond is environmentally safe and non-toxic, hypo-allergenic, low odor and voc-free.
The second coat of paint was just paint, no Extra Bond.
I lightly sanded before and after the second coat.
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

If you look closely, you will see variations of the paint color. Since I mixed this Pepper Plum using several colors, there are streaks of those different colors here and there. This is part of why OFMP is so unique. The beauty of the blended colors can't be matched by stock paint. 

To add dimension, I dry brushed the detailed carvings with buttercream stencil paint from Luxe - a paint I got on clearance at JoAnn's. Using the same color, I stenciled the side of the drawer.

With stencils, you can create your own unique combinations to match or coordinate with the details carved into the piece of furniture. I used one large and then added a small one on top of it. Then I sanded it just a bit to distress it. 

I chose one similar to the carved details on the table. 
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

To finish it off, I used (affiliate)Hope's 100% Tung Oil. You wipe the Tung oil on, wait an hour and wipe off whatever didn't soak in. Wait 12 hours and re-apply another coat. Below you can see the paint as a darker brown with just a hint of red.

I applied 6 coats of Tung Oil on the top, and three on the rest of the table including the drawer.

Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

Here you can see the difference in how the color reflects differently with the lighting. Brown above, mauvy purple-ish below:

Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

A Mini Dry Brushing Tutorial

The new silver knob came from Hobby Lobby. I planned on using the old knob after I cleaned it up, but it turned out to be a bright yellow brass color, which wouldn't go with my white stenciled and dry brushed details.

The (affiliate) drawer liner came from Fleet Farm. It only took us 9 stores and 3 hours of running around town to find exactly what I was looking for! It would have been so much easier if we had just ordered from Amazon Prime, but I needed it the day I decided to use it. Last minute decisions always end up costing you.

UPDATE: "Pepper" was added to The Red Shed FB store and made her way into her own home just before Christmas along with her sister Sophia - she is a treasure that will live to see another day. Honestly, it as very hard to let her go!

Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}
Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP {Love My DIY Home}

Thanks for visiting and letting me show you Pepper. I named her that after my mother who loved the color plum. DH used to tease her and call her favorite color "purple" and she always corrected him by saying. "It's plum, not purple." It's still a family joke to this day even though mom's been gone for several years. 

There are days I'd wished I kept this piece since it reminds me so much of Mom.

Thanks for visiting. If you'd like to learn how to redesign furniture and maybe even sell some, join us at Furniture Flipping Blueprint, where I teach you how to find outdated and unwanted furniture, turn it into art and then into cash. To find out more >>> The Blueprint.

Blessings,

VAL signature

* Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy anything after clicking on one of the affiliate links, I receive a small commission of the sale. The cost to you is the same, and I only link to items that I think would benefit my readers. Your support of this blog is greatly appreciated!

73 thoughts on “Antique Side Table Updated with OFMP – An Empire Case Goods Co. Antique”

    • What a gorgeous table you have created! All this piece needed was a little love and attention. It’s completely transformed. I love the stencil aspect on the side drawers—so pretty! Beautiful color; and I love how you honored your mom’s favorite color and her nickname. ?

      Reply
  1. I am one of those who hate to see old wood pieces painted…. but I have to say this piece is just beautiful… I also love the paint colors and how it changes 

    Reply
    • Thanks, Mary. Look for a table at estate sales – auctions can sometimes bring you some good stuff at good prices if there are people there that don’t know furniture or are flippers who can see potential.

      Reply
  2. I love Pepper! It'looks very unique. I love antiques & have dreamed of collecting for years. I am ready to start. This got me excited.

    Reply
  3. Wow, it was so interesting learning the history of this piece. I just love this little table and your transformation is stunning. The color is truly beautiful! Outstanding job! 

    Reply
  4. can you help me with my first project at refurbishing a wood side table? i used a spray on stripper and it took most of the paint off but there is residue from it. how do i remove it? thank you. Rena

    Reply
  5. I love the color you came up with!  Do you think I could mix similar colors in chalk paint and get the color you did, or close to it?  I have a side table that I have had for several years and sanded but couldn't decide on a color.

    Reply
    • Oma, not sure about that. I’ve never tried mixing chalk paints. The OFMP is pretty unusual – it’s a powder that you mix. You could give it a try. That’s how I came up with mine – just mixed till I saw what I wanted.

      Reply
  6. Absolutely spectacular! Decades ago I did refurbish several furniture pieces.  You are once again sparking my interest especailly with the great new OFMP & other products.  Thank you for sharing.

    Reply
  7. I think it looks gaudy. Should have stopped once you had the original wood finish cleaned up. A formerly beautiful antique turned artsy-fartsy. 

    Reply
    • Well, we all do enjoy different styles. I love it, as do many. I didn’t like the original look. But it’s ok that you like something different. Thanks for stopping by – please come back again!

      Reply
  8. You did an amazing job with it, Val. Love how it seems to change colors depending on the light, and dry brushing the details make them pop. It is a truly beauty!! Now I have a question, I thought Tung oil was for untreated or unpainted wood so I guess I was wrong… Did you use it to seal/protect it?

     

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    Reply
  9. Oh MY! This table is absolutely stunning!!! I'm not a huge fan of painting antiques either but this I love! Nice work!

    Reply
  10. I'm with you…..  ANY surface can be painted… and what better surface than wood???   my feeling is that you honor old pieces by fixing them up and making them a part of your home..  ANne McCollum

    Reply
    • Thanks, Lynette. I do believe we need to choose appropriate designs for each piece and do it justice. I think a lot of the controversy stems from poor paint jobs. Hence, my desire to teach proper furniture redesign.

      Reply
  11. Wow how awesome! Love what you did to that table! It was a surprise to know it is from Jamestown NY because I am only an hour away!

    Reply
  12. I have been an old house fixer upper for many years as well as an antique restorer/refinisher. At this stage of life I now firmly believe that not all old houses should be treated as “museums” and that an old piece of furniture should have the right to a new life. Otherwise they just become “junk” sitting in resale shops.

    Kudos to those who have a good eye and the time & talent to give new life to so many things!

    Reply

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