One Month, One Project–Distressed Coffee Table

Since switching out our giant leather sofa for the IKEA Ektorp chaise sofa, I had been on the lookout for a round coffee table since our old rectangle one was too large for the space. I fell in love with the Metropolitan Round coffee table from Pottery Barn, but was not willing to fork out $350 for it… so instead I perused Craigslist for months and months. This is where I tell you that persistence pays off people. I scored that very same PB coffee table on Craigslist for $35!! Sure, this one came with scratches and cobwebs but since I was planning on redoing it anyway, that worked just fine for me.

My inspiration was this distressed coffee table from The Painted Hive.

Because I wanted to re-stain the top, I stripped the orangey varnish with Citrasolve and then sanded gently so as to not sand all the way through the wood veneer. I have had previous experience with redoing PB furniture so I am familiar with their wood veneer – you want to be careful to not sand down to the particle board underneath.

I stained it with Minwax dark walnut stain and rather than coat it with poly, I opted instead to wax it with a few coats of Miss Mustard Seed’s furniture wax. The finish is soft and buttery and beautiful. I can’t say how it’ll hold up to two kids, but so far, so good. My girls have gotten accustomed to using coasters, so that helps.

I used my faithful Annie Sloan chalk paint for the body of the table so I wouldn’t have to sand or prime. The base is Old White and the rim just under the stained wood top is French Linen. I distressed the finish with a fine-grit sandpaper and then waxed with MMS furniture wax.

It fits the space so much better than our old coffee table, and I love how the lower shelf adds extra storage for books and magazines. I find it so funny how coordinated my furniture used to be and now it’s such a mix of everything: different wood tones, different textures, no matching furniture sets. It feels more collected and more cozy for sure.

Here’s a view of how it looks in the whole room: it really works well in the smaller space left since we have the chaise. Not bad for $35, especially considering I got $50 for my old one ;). One of these days I’ll post about that great board and batten entry you seen in the background – Mr. home.made. built that for me over a year ago! That plate wall definitely needs to grow too but I have hopes to fill that wall with a piano, so I’ll probably wait to work on the wall until then.

So there you have it, my project for the month of November. I’m debating over what to do next month but I can tell you that all of my options involve paint – it should be fun!