Antique Moroccan Table...cleaned up and ready to go!

On our anniversary trip three weeks ago, we ventured into a small antique shop in Biltmore Village (Asheville, N.C). Chris and I don't always agree on pieces, but this one we both loved. The wooden stand folds flat, and the tray appeared to be a dark metal.

On our drive home, we discussed what we would do to pretty up the table. There is beautiful detail on the legs and for some reason, everytime I see beautiful detail I think that it is time to paint or antique. My husband suggested just cleaning it up and leaving as is. I REALLY had to think about that one.

We both knew we wanted to clean the metal tray. We stopped and bought Brasso on the way home. I couldn't wait to dive in, and while Chris was cutting the grass, I began to Brasso away!! When I hit shiny copper, I had to run out and stop Chris to come see!

We knew the etched details were extensive and we knew metal was involved, but didn't expect to see this glorious, shiny copper and etched illustrations! We were soooo excited!

The Brasso did work for the front, but we had to use elbow grease for sure! The gunk that we could not get out of the cracks, we removed by combining lemon juice with salt and scrubbing. For the flat surface of the back of the tray, I tried a trick I learned online. I rubbed ketchup arcross the surface, let it sit for a few minutes, and then wiped it off. It worked well for the back, but I don't know how well it would work on etched/detailed surfaces.

After we admired our beautiful copper tray, we decided to go natural and original for the base. We cleaned the legs with Murphy's Oil Soap and then applied Miniwax Wipe on Wax. We LOVE this piece. It fits perfectly between our chair and our sofa!! So, so, so glad we did not paint the base!!!

I put my little revamped lamp, resin coasters and the almightly remotes on the tray!

Sometimes you gotta know when to leave things as they are and enjoy the natural beauty!

And not to sound too incredibly cheesy, but it was nice to complete this together, without major disagreements on how to finish it!

Beth

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