Before and After: A Coffee Table Makeover

I mentioned back in August how we gave my twin brother and his wife a can of One Of A Kind- Cameron and Abigail Elbow grease for a housewarming present, and here is one of the projects we helped them with (so far). The happy home owners have this coffee table that once belonged to my grandparents.  My Grandmother's family room (where the table once resided) had a subtle French country theme to it and so the table with it's rustic finish and hand painted corners was right at home and fit her decor.  But since inheriting the table, my sister-in-law wanted to clean up some dings and ultimately paint it, making it her own.  Here is a little visual journey of their coffee table makeover. (click on the pictures to view them larger and in greater detail)

See the entire tutorial after the JUMP!

Here is the hand painted detail that decorated each corner.

More examples of some of it's wear.

As Hannah worked on painting their kitchen cabinets, I used their power sander to knock off the finish and the hand painted details, smoothing out any dings and scratches along the way. The sanding went really fast and was very rewarding! It was therapeutic for me in some ways- since being a new mom of a budding toddler, there are very few projects that I can tackle and accomplish in an afternoon. So the Husband watched the baby for me so I was able to sand this table...

Already looks cleaner! Ready for paint. Since Hannah still wanted the knots to show through the paint, my mother suggested we white wash the table- using rags dipped in paint. *When painting furniture it is typically best for one person to paint the entire piece, since our paint strokes can vary just like our handwriting. But with white washing, it's not as crucial.  However, Hannah painted the entire top by herself- to achieve a uniform look, while she and I both split up the duty of tackling the sides with all of their deep dark nooks.

Tah-dah! The finished piece as it sits in their new living room in front of their new sofa! For paint, we used some of their kitchen cabinet paint, which is a very white sea foam blue. The top took two coats of paint, while the sides just took one each, with a few touch ups to fill in more of the crevasses. 

Their living room, with their Italian Greyhound, Henry.

Detail of the "finishing".

To finish off the table, Hannah sanded some of the edges to make it look slightly rustic, which fit with the visible knots on the top and the darker bits on the scalloped detail on the sides. Then she waxed the table using furniture wax, applied with a rag.

And there you have it! White-washing a table is a fun and fast way to transform a piece of furniture that does not require a lot of paint. It dries quickly between coats and the result if a slightly worn and aged look.

Stay tuned for future painting posts, of even more projects on their "to paint" list!