I thrifted this sad little table almost a year ago; you might remember this shot I shared back then of my rescue piece. The lamp, however, was SO left behind!
Overall the table was in pretty rough shape, other than the leather top. When my daughter Kaleigh saw it she wanted to make it hers – after a DIY of course! 😉 She wanted it black, I wasn’t so sure, and she insisted the vintage knobs needed to go. Huh?
I found replacement vintage knobs at General Salvage early in the game.
That’s basically where the DIY was left.
Fast forward to Country Chic Paint, a new quality chalk paint local to Duncan, and suddenly this table was front of mind!
With the leather top to consider, I wasn’t too keen on extra sanding and priming, and with this paint I could leave out both! Country Chic Paint requires little to no prep, has no VOCs, is near odorless and dries quickly. Bonus!! I think you know where I’m going with this.
One can of Liquorice coloured Country Chic Paint for the makeover!
Before I could begin I had to do a little prep. Some gluing and repairs were needed where one spindle had broken away from the table base.
And because the table was in such tough shape I actually did do some pre-sanding to smooth the rough patches and edges a little.
The table also had a glossy finish on it, so a light sanding helps the paint stick. Priming is actually recommended for certain surfaces like mahogany, but I opted out of the priming because of the darker colour it was being painted. I wasn’t worried about bleed through from resins in the wood, but I’ve had that misfortune in the past. More on that here!
I also protected the leather top by covering it with paper and taping it off. I made sure the paper went over the gold leaf tooling because I was worried the tape might pull the gold off.
The last thing I did was raise the table on pushpins. This is a great trick for painting right to the bottom of the legs!
I used a synthetic bristle paintbrush, and ended up cutting the handle off because it kept getting in the way of painting the lower shelf!
The paint was a dream to work with. It went on easily, dried quickly and no lumps were left behind. The best part… no sanding needed between coats!
I actually liked the look after the first coat – some of the original brown was peeking through, but Kaleigh wasn’t game. She also didn’t want me to do any distressing – one of the very things chalk paint is so awesome for! After the second coat I let the paint dry overnight, and then applied the finishing wax. All the waxes are made up of bees wax and other natural oils. No solvents!
I applied natural coloured wax first as a protective layer, and here you can see the waxy shine next to the unwaxed chalky surface.
I used the antiquing wax for a second round because I wanted to tone down the black of the liquorice. The antiquing wax did the trick adding just the hint of brown I was hoping for. If you compare the bottom table image to the one above it you can see the difference.
One of the reasons for this tutorial is to demonstrate that chalk paint is versatile. It is commonly used for antiquing, distressing and giving pieces an aged look, but as you can see it is also great for a shiny finished look!
Here’s a look at the stages.
Before:
Chalk Paint applied, but no wax:
Antiquing wax applied and leather top treated with leather conditioner.
Notice how the liquorice colour pulls out the black tooling detail in the border and makes it pop?
Here’s a closer look…
In the lower left corner you can also see the brownish hue of the antiquing wax along the beveled edge of the table.
What do you think? Are you ready for a brandy??
Thank you Country Chic Paint for introducing me to your product!
And thank YOU for stopping by!
Photographs by Sheila Zeller. Please link and credit if you choose to use! 🙂
Wow, that turned out beautiful!! I’ve used Country Chic Paint too, love their paint – so nice to work with! I also go to General Salvage A LOT, isn’t it fun to dig around??
Thank you Heather! I love what you did with your project, too, and I agree – this paint is so smooth to work with. Minimal brush strokes once dried, and my favorite part is no sanding between coats! General Salvage is such a great place to spend some time – I just need to get down there more often!!
That looks awesome Sheila! I love a good transformation. What’s the price like for that chalk paint?
Thanks so much Nicole! I happen to think you are the master of great transformations! Here’s the link to the product… http://www.countrychicpaint.com/shop
and you might also be interested in this… http://countrychicpaint.com/blogger-program (yesterday was the deadline, but the link is still live!)
Looks wonderful! You did such a great job!
Thank you Fernanda! I really enjoyed this project, especially because I had to work with my daughter’s vision as well as my own!
I think I see a smile now on this lucky little table.
🙂 I just hope it doesn’t miss the lamp! 😉
I love this table from start to finish. You did a fantastic job and I’m sure Kaleigh loves it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment… especially while you’re on vacation! It was so awesome to see your name pop up 🙂 I have to give Kaleigh credit for the vision, for sure!!
That looks so nice, Sheila! Great job. And I love the push pin trick!
Thanks Dani! The push pin trick works so well… you should have seen the messes I made in the past before push pins! 😉
That table’s a keeper now! Thanks for sharing your pushpin trick, so smart!
It’s crazy the difference paint makes – to see the table in it’s lost little state at the thrift store, who would ever have thought? That’s my favorite part about DIYing – the possibilities are endless!!
Stunning! Why or why can’t I ever find these great gems?
I think it’s all about timing. I’ve been searching for a small sofa table now for ages to DIY into a herb table, and so far no luck. Maybe the key is to take a chance without a purpose when these pieces pop up, but I know that can be dangerous, too! 😉
dangerous indeed- I have 5 very cool reclaimed sinks in my attic for ‘
one day’
It always amazes me what a little paint can do. The table looks so much better and I love that you kept the leather top!
Thank you Shauna! I took a walk through Pinterest to see what others did with leather topped tables, and I was surprised at how many covered them up! I love the old world charm feeling of it – not a house full, but this much is okay! 🙂
Nice job Shelia! I especially enjoyed seeing your ‘innovate clamping apparatus’. It’s great to see old pieces get a new life…
Thank you so much Sandra, and thanks for stopping by! I know – the clamps had a bit to be desired, and my fingers were crossed they would be weighty enough to work – so far so good! I’m so curious about your collection of sinks – that sounds like intrigue in the making!! 🙂
That looks amazing!!!! I love it! Never heard of this paint before, hmmm, must investigate. Hope I can get my hands on some in Kingston. Thanks for sharing! xo
Thank you so much Laurie! This paint is brand new on the market, and it’s from right here where I live. I’m not sure where the company is distributing – it looks like they are sourcing boutique outlets to carry their product line (want to open a boutique?) 😉 They take online orders and shipping is free for $125 or more… Hopefully that helps!
Huge transformation Sheila! Beautiful color choice 🙂
Thank you so much Sandra – I’m really happy with the way it turned out, but especially because my daughter likes it too! That’s always the pivotal moment in the reveal 😉
Your DIY skills never cease to amaze me! {Hey, is it possible to subscribe to your blog by email?}
Awe, thank you so much Meesh! And yes to the email! Thanks to your note I have installed a clearer way to subscribe by email! Thank you for pointing that out!! 🙂
Thanks so much!! I bought a coffee table similar to your end table and you’ve helped me make some decisions.