How To Turn A “Plain Jane Coffee Table” Farmhouse Style

 

I recently finished updating this coffee table that a friend gave me. This coffee table was from Crate and Barrel and her dog had chewed up the edges. She said her husband had tried to fix it with filler and it didn’t quite work out the way they had thought so she was generous enough to give it to me. Yay! I always love a challenge and seeing great before and afters. I am adding a complete source list to my room at the end of the post along with some affiliate links throughout to make it easier for you to find products that I used for my project. Here is the coffee table in all it’s glory with dog chewed edges that were covered in wood filler.

 

I snapped a picture of the side here too because I think they must have tried wipe stain on top of the filler and it turned into one giant mess. It also had a piece of glass on top as you can see here. I decided to change up the whole look of the table and take away the glass.

 

My first step was to sand down the whole table. Normally when using chalk paint you don’t have to sand but this table had wood filler in so many places and needed to be leveled out so that there were no lumps and bumps after I painted it. Sanding the shiny surfaces also helped the chalk paint to go on easier. I sanded outside with my handsander and brought then brought the table inside to paint.

 

I used white chalk paint (Benjamin Moore Dove White color matched to Behr paint)  and began painting after I had wiped the whole table down to get all of the dust off from sanding. This is the table after one coat of chalk paint. You can find my chalk paint recipe here if you would like to make your own. I love this chalk paint recipe for the fact that you can buy any color of paint that you would like and make it into chalk paint, for much more of a budget friendly price that buying actual “chalk paint” from the store.

 

While I was waiting for each coat of paint to dry, I went outside and sanded my boards with my hand sander (with 100 grit sand paper). I simply measured the top of the table and bought as many boards as I needed to allow for a couple inches of overhang on each side. I am using 1×6″ pine boards. When I went to buy them, I laid them all down on the floor in the store and lined them up the way that I wanted them to look on the table to make sure there was no warping and that they all fit snuggly together.

 

When I had them all sanded and wiped down, I stained them. I used three parts White Wash Stain to one part Special Walnut Stain mixture to stain them. I wanted a lighter look for the top and this mixture gave me exactly what I was looking for.

 

After I had the bottom of the table and the drawer fronts painted, reattached the hardware, lightly distressed the edges of the table with 100 grit sandpaper, and sealed it with water based poly.

 

Here is where a mistake happened. I tried to use liquid nails around the edges of the table and then place the boards on top and clamp them down to dry, but it did not stick at all. The liquid nails dried onto the boards and did not even stick to the table. It wasn’t a big deal since you can’t see that area anyways but just a time waster. I’m guessing it did not stick because I had already sealed the table? or maybe because of the paint?

 

So my hubs scraped off the liquid nails with a paint scraper and screwed in 2- 1×8″ boards with finishing screws to the bottom of the wood slats. This held it more secure anyways and is how I should have done it in the first place. We made sure that the boards that were screwed into the bottom were the right size to allow them to be on the inside of the edges of the table. This way they don’t show at all. After placing it onto the top of the table, he also used finishing screws to screw it into the base from the underside of the table.

 

 

 

 

 

I couldn’t be happier with the way that it turned out. I haven’t sealed the top yet but will eventually also seal the top with water based poly or wax.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope that I have inspired you to take on a project of your own. There are lots of furniture pieces out there that could use an update. Have a wonderful day!

 

Source List: 

Large Wall Chalkboard: DIY

Trunks and Lamp: Thrifted and painted with my chalk paint recipe

Chairs: Thrifted

Pillows: World Market

Books: Thrifted

Poof Beside Chair: Target

Old Milk Can: Craigslist

Blankets: Home Goods and Thrifted

Bunting: @home_itsmorethanahouse

Large Wood Sign: Hoekstra Decor