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! 
I'm Sheila, a decorating enthusiast with a focus on making over, fixing up, and using what you have. Here you'll find a collection of DIY projects from thrifted to the odd roadside find. You'll also find me keeping up with 
