Heir and Space: A matched set

A matched set is a rare thing in the vintage and antique furniture world. Sets get divided, one piece suffers more wear and gets discarded, so there's quite a bit working against finding a set of furniture. Matching sets, especially in small rooms, are critical in order to keep a space uncluttered and cohesive.
This summer, at our town wide tagsale, I found a great vintage sold oak coffee table for $6. It had wonderful lines and proportions and the big thick scale that I was looking for. The lady I bought it from had been using the table as a kid's play space in a basement. It's surface was crackling up, and it had been completely covered in crayon and magic marker (even the underside, which I left cause it's funny). A little elbow grease and some sanding later, I had a my dream coffee table. Well sort of.
First I tried to sand the legs to stain them to match the top. Fail. It's almost impossible to fully sand turned legs. Next I painted the legs black- too dark and somber in our family room. Next I painted the legs a light yellow, this was cute but clashed with everything. Finally I wised up and painted the legs white. Perfection! But now there was a strange battle going on between the coffee table, and my vintage marble side table. Both are sweet cottage pieces, but they were just too different to be in such close quarters.
Enter this amazing vintage pedestal oak side table that I scored for free, that's right FREE at a tagsale this past weekend. The surface was no good, but the dimensions, the weight, the fact that it's ridiculously over built and solid...love at first sight. It took only a couple of hours to sand, strip, and paint. And voila' a matched set. Total cost- $6! Included are pics of the marble side table (now up on craigslist), the befores of the pedestal side table, and the afters of the matched set- living in my family room in perfect harmony.