Coffee Table Makeover

Brett and I have been in our current house for a little over a year now. Since we moved in last year, we have not had a coffee table, which has been inconvenient to say the least. As I was driving home the other day, I just happen to pass by our neighbor's house right as they were throwing out an old coffee table that they no longer needed. Of course, I asked them if I could have it, and they were more than happy to load it up for me! It was a solid wood oak table that was in decent shape, but it just needed sprucing up. And I did just that. 


To start, I sanded down the entire top of the table to get rid of the oak colored stain and to smooth out the wood. Once that was done, I used a flat head screw driver and a mallet to knock off the dated braided molding along the sides; it had been attached with tiny nails, so it was a pretty simple task. Next, I started to paint, beginning with flipping the table upside down and painting the legs; I waited about two hours, then painted a second coat. After the legs dried, I flipped the table over and painted the top, let it dry, then did another coat. During this time, I also painted the drawer the same color as the table top. After all the paint was dry, I sprayed some satin finish polyurethane to help protect the wood from stains and messy baby fingers! As a finishing touch, I bought an acrylic knob to add some whimsy. All together I spent $34, including the paint and knob... now that's a cheap, but chic, coffee table!

Before:

Sorry, I forgot to take a 'before' picture before I started sanding!

After:

Paint:$30 for a quart of each color

Acrylic knob from Lowe's: $4