Coffee Table - Re-Vamp!

Yay! Project completed! So we have been in need of a coffee table for some time now -and I just haven't been able to find the perfect one - when alas I walked by this bad boy on the street.

OK maybe it's not quite the looker I have been searching for - but I saw potential! I somehow convinced J to let me take it home with promises of a grander finale (he is often skeptical of my "projects" because, well I don't exactly tackle them in a timely manner and they may, once in a while, sit around unfinished for some time =/ ). But it must have been my lucky day - ha! and we carted it the two blocks into our complex and up the elevator into our one bedroom Queens apartment - where I immediately got down to it!

So yes this is my work space - right in the entry way, in front of the kitchen adjacent to the dining table and overlooking the kitty litter. But hey - you gotto do what you gotto do! I sanded the whole thing down using a 60 grit sand paper and an electric sander which, by the way, is an awesome invention and smart investment (only about $30 from Amazon) . Hand sanding that would have been a nightmare. I started with 100 grit sandpaper and that would have taken forever as well, 60 grit  was much better for this project. Now although the sander has a little compartment to catch the dust there was def. sawdust all over the entire apartment - another downfall of the lack of a proper work room. But I just wiped it all up when I was done and no one is the wiser!

So here we are all sanded and looking better already.

And now it was time for the paint. I decided to go with the paint from our walls (mostly because I had just purchased a quart of it to do some touch-ups on the wall (which of course I haven't done yet) and it's a nice light blue that will really freshen up the table! Benjamin Moore Light Blue

My little helper Jules was standing by for assistance. 

I did two coats of the light blue paint on the surface and the legs (going to a yoga class in between coats allowing dry time). Then I contemplated overnight what kind of design to paint on the surface. I toyed with the idea of recreating the pattern on my curtains on a larger scale and perhaps in a one color rendition. Or mimicking the design on my rug both of which seemed to offer obstacles - in the end I decided to go with a classic chevron pattern. And I used the grey paint that I used to paint the doors here. However, J had to help me with this part and lets just say that higher mathematics were def. involved in creating this, it is not as easy as it looks.

We created a 4" grid and drew it with a pencil on the surface and used the grid to set-up the painters tape at the points. It got tricky as to what side of the points to place the tape - but we eventually figured it out and got the whole table taped off.

To get crisp painted lines I used a trick I learned when I tackled this project and the tip came from this post on Centsational Girl. To use the base paint color first along the edges of the tape before you put on the new color. It worked like  a charm!

We finished it off with a coat of polyurethane and I jumped the gun and used a can that I had on hand and half way through the surface of the table I realized that it was oil based! And I have learned (the hard way) and if you read up on it, you will see that oil based polyurethane tends to yellow and really shows up on light colored surfaces! YIKES! But the damage was done and there was no turning back. So we only did one coat and I held my breath for a few days praying to the paint gods for no yellowing. And luckily all is good! BUT if you are to do this at home def. get water based polyurethane. In fact check out this helpful tutorial from Honey & Fitz on creating high gloss finish on furniture. 

And here it is in place in the living room! What do you think? The person who threw this out would be kicking themselves if they saw it now! ha!

Nightstand Re-Vamp!

Can you guess how I spent my weekend?
OK so I admit I bought these nightstands several weeks (ok or maybe months) ago - and finally got around to sprucing them up! Below is how I found them at the Meeker Avenue Flea Market which I just learned to my own great dismay - has gone out of business???Can this be true? Granted there items were slightly overpriced - but as I learned when purchasing these bad boys - bargaining works! I walked away with these nightstands for $25 each - when initially they wanted $50 each!! But they really had some amazingly fun finds - and this closing makes me very sad =(

But on to my re-vamp! So you can see here the tables have nice lines, are in good condition and they match! But the color wasn't working for me (they weren't pink!) so this is how I fixed that.
I cleaned them up and sanded them down a bit - with my new handy dandy electric sander (makes me an official DIYer!)

(If you are wondering what that interesting wood shelf in the background is - stay tuned for a future post on a steal of a street find!) Next step: I applied a coat of primer (I had left over from painting my living room). And then I put together a little mixture of paints. I had bought these paints to attempt a striping effect in the bedroom but did not like the results so instead they become the paint for my new nightstands. See everything works out in the end.

So what we have here is a tester container of Glidden Fresh Pink Lemonade (it was a little too pink of a color that I had wanted for the walls) and a jar of Martha Stewart Metallic Glaze in Mercury. I just mixed them together and came up with what you see here.

I also had to scrub the hardware for the handles - (I soaked them in white vinegar and soap then took a q-tip to those suckers) they were covered in some grime and underneath found a nice brass finish! Then to add just another detail I took some metallic gold craft paint and VERY CAREFULLY painted in the detailed lines around the nightstand.

OK OK I admit it ...I had some help...this is Jules - he is very creative.

And here it is in the room right beside the bed! Remember that mirror from this post? And yes still contemplating the closet doors discussed here. What do you think?

Hope you like my re-vamp! And hope it inspires you to look again at something old and see the potential. If you need a nudge in the right direction, email me a pic of something you have that has seen better days, and maybe I can give you some ideas on how to make it new and fabulous!