Coffee Table Makeover

Several weeks ago, the husband and I were looking around at some local thrift shops and I saw a coffee table I had to have. I liked the big size (40x40) and thought it would work well to fill some of the space in our living room. It cost $9.99 and looked like this:

The brand is Lane, and when I went to their website I saw that their coffee tables are quite expensive. Mine wasn't in the greatest condition (water stains and whatnot), but it was clearly solid wood so I didn't think I'd have a problem refinishing it.

Here's how I re-finished it:

1. I found a big can of liquid sander in our garage courtesy of the previous owners and put a thick coat of it on, then scraped it off.

2. Then I sanded it by hand with rougher, then smoother sandpaper. I should have done a better job sanding the top though because it ended up needing several coats of primer to cover the spots where I didn't sand it very well.

3. I used several coats of primer. I think it was 2 coats on the legs and 3 or 4 on the top because of my not so good sanding job. For both the primer and the paint I used cheap foam brushes and a foam roller. Here's a picture of it with primer:



4. Then I started painting it. I used Benjamin Moore Aura paint. Most people I asked recommended I paint it black to go with the black picture frames, mirror, and shelf currently in the living room, but I decided to match it to the trim instead and go with white. I wanted to brighten up the room.

5. I used a couple coats of Minwax Polycrylic in Satin to protect it further.

Here's the end result:
I'm definitely happy with the table! It was a great buy for $9.99, and probably under $30 for the supplies since I already had some of what I needed.

I'm in the process of redoing the master bedroom..... pics to come soon I hope!

3 comments:

Kristina R. said...
January 29, 2010 at 10:06 AM

Looks great. I am always amazed the difference that elbowgrease and paint make.

Anonymous said...
January 29, 2010 at 1:31 PM

K! That is amazing! You are so talented!

Kirsten said...
January 30, 2010 at 7:39 AM

Thanks ;) It's really more elbow grease than talent!

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