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You won’t believe this DIY coffee table makeover! I love the way it turned out!
We were helping clean out an old house, where everything was going to be thrown away. I found this coffee table and had a vision! My husband thought it was trash, but I convinced him to save it.
With just some paint, wood, stain, and some time, this coffee table got a wonderful makeover!
DIY Coffee Table Makeover
We didn’t have room in our home for this coffee table, so I ended up selling it for some side money.
Do you like to be crafty and make things to sell? Be sure to grab my free Craft Idea eBook, full of over 195 unique craft ideas you can make and sell! Grab your free copy here!
Before:
The top had slate pieces on the sides and an insert in the middle, where there was probably a glass insert. Pretty old fashioned, but super sturdy!
What I loved most about it was the legs. You don’t see many pieces like this!
My plan:
I had a vision of a white bottom with a stained, slatted wood top.
Since the top had the big hole in the middle and the slate pieces, I couldn’t just paint the top like I often do.
So, I decided to paint the bottom white and add slats of wood to the top to cover up the uneven top.
DIY Coffee Table Makeover:
First, I painted the bottom and sides white. I use Valspar Perfect White in Satin from Lowe’s because it doesn’t need mixing. You can just grab it right off the shelf!
It took two coats of paint.
Looks so much better and fresher already!
Adding the wood slats:
To add the wood slats to the top, I first needed to add some support in the hole.
I just measured the height of the hole and nailed some scrap wood together to create two supports.
These are the supports I would need to nail my wood slats into, so I made a pencil mark on the side, so I would know where my supports were.
To add the wood slats, I measured the width of the table and decided what width wood I would need to use.
This part can be a little tricky since wood measurements are not exact. For instance, I ended up using 1″ X 4″ wood, that is really only 3.5″ wide.
I would recommend taking a tape measure to the store or figuring the wood to be 1/2″ to 3/4″ narrower than should be.
For this project, I measured the width to be 24″. I divided 24 by 3.5, and decided 7 boards would be the best option, with a little overhang.
If you are going to have overhang, which I recommend having a small amount, you will want to match that on the other sides.
So, my overhang was 1/4″ on the long sides, so I made the length of my boards 1/2″ longer than the length, so I would have 1/4″ overhang on the short sides, too.
Hope that makes sense. 🙂
Staining the wood:
Once I had the wood cut, I sanded and stained the pieces.
I used Minwax Dark Walnut stain, a cheap chip brush, and a staining rag.
Nailing the wood on:
Once the wood was dry, I used my favorite wood glue and nailed each piece on to the top.
I applied wood glue to the back of each piece, and then lined them up to make sure they were even and square.
Then, I used my nail gun with 1 1/4″ finish nails to nail each piece in to the table.
I made sure to nail into the support pieces I installed and to not nail into the slate pieces that were already there.
Distressing the bottom:
I used my palm sander to distress the bottom that I painted white.
There are many ways to distress, but I just use my sander to hit the edges that you would normally see wear and tear.
Sealing the top:
My last step was to seal the wood on top. This is my favorite wood sealer.
I used a cheap chip brush to apply the stain, careful not to have any runs on the sides.
The trick is to apply one coat, let it dry, then sand it with extra fine sand paper, then apply a second coat.
This gives the top a smooth finish, that’s not too shiny!
That’s it! I loved how this DIY coffee table makeover turned out!
It’s amazing what you can do to take something most people think is trash to a beautiful piece!
If you have a piece of furniture with a damaged or ugly top, this DIY coffee table makeover tutorial can help you give it a makeover with a smooth, finished wood slatted top.
I ended up selling this piece for $140, which was some great side money to add to our savings account. Gotta love a hobby that makes money! 🙂
Thanks for checking out this tutorial! If you use this tutorial for a project, I would love for you to tag me on Facebook or Instagram so I can share it! 🙂
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