Upcycling Old End Tables

I was lucky enough that my mom had some end tabled she was looking to get rid of. When I decided to makeover the sun room, I knew I wanted 2 of these mid century modern end tables to cap off the daybed I was putting out there.

The first step was priming. I sprayed 2 coats of Krylon primer all over these tables. This is a definite must if you are working with wood or faux wood that have a glossy finish. Paint won't stick to glossy finishes, so you need the primer to offer a rough surface for the paint to stick to.

I was especially careful about this, because I knew end tables get tons of wear, so I didn't want the paint to chip or peel.

After the primer dried, I sprayed 3 coats of Rustoleum Ocean Mist spray paint - letting each coat dry fully before re-coating. I started from the bottom up, using the principal I learned when painting the kitchen cabinets. I knew it would be okay if the bottom of the legs were a little messed up due to being on the grass, but I wouldn't want the tops of the tables to get ruined by sitting face down on the grass since they are the part of the tables that are most visible.

I then sprayed the center supports and taped off and sprayed the bottom of the legs in Krylon Gold. I did 2 coats of this, letting each coat fully dry before re-coating. 

I then had to fix the center supports. I did this by taping off the center with 1" painters tape and spraying the Rustoleum Ocean Mist over the tape and touching up where any gold paint had accidentally been over-sprayed onto the base color. Once it was dry, I removed my painter's tape, and was DONE! 

You can see here what I meant about fixing the center supports. I thought a small golden band around those would be really pretty, and it ended up working great!

Now these lovely end tables fit in perfectly with the new sun room (you can see that makeover here)!

Here's a breakdown of what I used:

• Primer ( I used Krylon, but you can use any primer you'd like)
• Primary Color (I used Rustoleum Ocean Mist)
• Accent Color (if you want one - I used Krylon Metallic Gold)
• Painter's Tape 1" (you can use larger if you like - this is just what I had and what I wanted for the center supports - additionally if you aren't doing an accent color you don't need this)
• Patience (letting all of the coats dry turns this into a full day project, but you can relax inside while this is happening)
• Good Weather (if you are going to spray outside)

Sun Room Makeover

Another room I decided could use a face-lift was our sun-room. It was the same "oriental yellow" as the rest of the house, and it HAD TO GO. 

Right side of the room before

Left side of the room before

I apologize for all of the mess in these photos. I was, and still am, living in box city, and are taking care of unpacking one room at a time. Since I'm trying to be as budget conscious as possible I decided to use the leftover paint from our cabinet makeover, which was Valspar "Fresh Cotton". I figured white would really open up the room, and eventually I would like to get some nice bamboo shades for the window, which will look really nice with white walls.

This is after  one coat of paint. I ended up doing 3 coats for maximum coverage.

I wanted the room to feel light, airy, and magical, so I ended up finding some really nice Harry Potter inspired artwork online, and used my Umbridge kitten plates from a previous Loot Crate.

The left side of the room after

I ended up upcycling the black shelf from the second and third photos (I'll do a separate post on how I did that soon), created custom name plates for my fur babies for their respective dining areas, and repainted their leash/harness hanger to go with the feel of the room.

 

The right side of the room after

There are still a few knick-knacks I need to put out, like my wands, a salt crystal lamp and some other fun, mystical, magical decor, but I really like the new vibe the room has. It is ultimately a room for our girls. During the day, I like to leave the blinds up, and Cassie will sit on the bed and look out at the yard or at the neighbors. It also doubles as a second guest room for visitors!

This was a really fun project, and I had several mini projects within this project that I'll be posting about soon. In total, I'd say the makeover for this room, including the mini projects, cost maybe $75-$100 total including the paint, some storage boxes, a desk fan (not pictured), and the bedding set. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to share below!