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Bon Journal

Varnishing hardwood table

Why has it taken me three summers to find a suitable outdoor table for my garden? Without a car or any feasible means of transport and carry, I had to cycle to the local furniture and do-it-yourself stores. If I did find something, I could never be sure that my garden was big enough or whether it was worth paying for transport.

Would this be another summer of taking my dining table out to the garden and bringing it in when I need to use it?

No, I was determined to find an outdoor table.

By chance, the nearest store to me had one for sale. It was the perfect size, shape, and colour.

Since I wasn't familiar with outdoor furniture, I couldn't be sure if the rain would damage the hardwood. So when it did rain one day, I worried about the rain penetrating the two layers of plastic shower curtains I had put on the table.

Today I decided that enough was enough. It was time to varnish the hardwood table with a protective coating, to allay my ridiculous fears. After all, the wood has already been treated - otherwise the table wouldn't be sold as an "outdoor" table, would it?

21 August 2001

The zen of varnishing my hardwood table:

The table itself is the content

It's like us, we were all born complete

But some get pre-treated - and will last outdoors

Others stay inside

and the lucky ones get a protective coating to last a longer time....