Coffee Table Redo

My In-laws are coming to visit from South Africa in a week, so what better time to start on the old thrift store coffee table that's been sitting in my garage for a month, right?

I will not mention the rising stress levels as a result of my not cleaning and getting the guest room ready to you at all....promise.

Saw this table at Goodwill and thought it would work well in the kid's game room/TV room/school room/bonus room.

It has drawers for all the remotes and X- Box controllers, and shelves with doors for all the games and Cd's.

Plus it was on wheels, so it could be moved around easily...perfect!

The only problem was...it was really ugly and beat up. The previous owner made some brave attempts to keep the doors together with long, bent nails and wood glue, but it was still falling apart.

I had high hopes for it, though.Yes, I know this is a terrible "before" picture, but you're lucky I actually remembered to take one...most of the times I am so eager to start transforming, that I forget. I promise I will learn to do better in the future.

This side panel was loose, and had to be secured in place with wood glue.

I took all the hardware off and filled the holes with wood filler, because I was definitely not going to use the ugly hardware it came with...(again, sorry, took the "before " picture after I got rid of the hardware) You will just have to take my word for it that it was ugly... as in hurts- your- eyes- ugly.

Then...my husband, foolish man that he is, let me use his band sander . I was just going to "lightly sand the worst grime and dirt off ", because who wants to use soap and water when she can use power tools?

I was not prepared for my own reaction to using "power tools" for the first time..

I was having so much fun, I did not want to stop!

So...This? Right here? is proof that I should not ever be left alone with power tools again.

I sanded the poor thing to with-in an inch of its life...

That mark on the side? A big gash made with the sander.

The table top was all grainy and not pretty at all.

I paid dearly for this little overindulgence with the sander when I started spray painting. I just could not get it to not be streaky. (Yes, I did prime...Kilz oil based spray primer.) After two coats of Krylon gloss Black, it still looked all blotchy and streaky. I was not crazy about the gloss black look either...too plastic and cheap looking. So I sprayed on a layer of mat black.

Still streaky. Went and bought my new boyfriend in spray paints, Rustoleum Painter's Touch, in satin black, but no real improvement.

I did decide to leave the doors off after seeing it like this. Baskets could hold the games and Cd's instead.

Then I remembered that on my last trip to Home Depot, I bought a gallon of Oops paint in a dark beige/ coffee- with- cream color. I decided to paint the top  in this color, and then distressed it so that some black showed through.

I liked it much better. I found the hardware at Lowe's for under a dollar each. They were a cheap gold color, but some primer and Oil Rubbed Bronze paint took care of that.

I love it. The baskets are too small, but I am on the look-out for the right ones.

I also painted three layers of Min- Wax Polycrylic ,since it is going to have to withstand abuse by teenage boys.

Once again:

BEFORE

AFTER

There was another side table, in pine, in this room, that I gave the same treatment. Here is a picture..

What do you think?

I am linking to Debbie Doos Loves Livin in the Carolinas

Funky Junk Interiors

Between Naps on the Porch

                         Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party

                      Domestically Speaking Power of Paint Party