Side Table Makeover

I got this lovely, but confused side table at Salvation Army for $13. The legs are mid century modern, the curved sides of the top have an Asian feel, and the planked wood is a little bit country. I had plans to refinish it, but it sat in our garage taking up walkway space for a few months before I had the gumption to work on it.

I hesitated working on it because of step one: filling in the lines. The planked wood look just didn't fit, so I grabbed some wood filler and started filling the holes in. Pretty sure I put too much on, but I wanted to make sure it got in the grooves and had room to sand down to level.

When I got to sanding it however, it was a beast. I used 60 grit sand paper, which did the job, it just took a really long time. I finished up with a fine grit sand paper to smooth it down.

Instead of my regular method of priming, painting and sealing, I tried something a different and used chalk paint. I got some Chalk Country Paint from a local antique mall and chose Sailor Blue.

And because there are a gazillion examples out there of painting with chalk paint, I'll spare you the details. I must say though that it is a totally different experience painting with chalk paint. The texture of this paint was like thick chocolate pudding, so it's virtually drip-proof, which is super nice. Chalk paint dries fast, so I was able to do three coats of paint in a matter of hours. As thick as this paint is, it doesn't cover well. I didn't want a distressed look on this piece so I was very liberal with the paint. However, with chalk paint you get a very flat finish, and it gets dirty or chalky really quickly. So its important to seal it. 

You can choose to seal with wax or with polycrylic. I chose poly because I don't have to re-seal it like you do with wax. 

But first I taped up the legs and sprayed the bottoms gold to give them a "dipped" look. This might possibly be the worst DIY process picture I've ever taken. You're welcome. 

I let the spray paint dry, did a coat of polycrylic, let it cure, and then brought it in to stage.

I plan on selling this, so the staging is just for fun. Because the side table is such a statement piece, I decided to go with a monochromatic look and bring in other bright blues. It's like Cinderella's dress color and I kind of dig it. The blue pillow is from Ikea, the flowered pillow is new at Target.

And here's a before and after: