October 8, 2015

Easy Project! Paint a Harvest Themed Console Table

I can’t even. You guys. I’m just so dang excited right now. I had been hanging onto this console table in the basement for a few months and knew it was just the ticket. Here’s how I gave it a harvest themed console table makeover 🙂

Here are the supplies I used!

I wanted to combine three main elements:

a rustic feel; because to me fall is all about rustic, soft wood tones
a rich earthy colour; because where we live, fall is when the sea lichens get all dried up and turn to a gorgeous mossy colour
sweet and personalized accents

First thing, I took 60 grit sand paper to the top using my sander. Sure, the finish started to come off alright, but all of a sudden, THIS happened. UGH.
Two things went through my mind at this point. One of them was DAMMIT! The other was – well thank goodness I now know for certain the top wasn’t solid wood.

But what to do?

Dan and I rummaged through the shed wood pile for reclaimed boards to build a new top that would suit my vision much better.

I knew those planks would work – but they were painted. So I went back to my sander to take the finish down to the wood. I left them all scuffed and with some paint streaks on purpose. I cut the board down using our table saw. I cut two pieces that are about 6 1/4″ wide and one that is 4 1/8″ wide.

Then, I took the rest of the table apart. It was so much easier to paint in pieces! I hardly ever do it this way. But if you can – it’s worth it.

I gave it one coat of primer and three solid coats of Avocado Shake by PARA Paints*.

Okay, so let’s talk about this table top. I secured those three boards I ripped together with just some glue and brad nails so that I could stain them. I wanted them to look old and aged and a bit like they’d been through the ringer.

I started out with the Minwax Wipe On stain cloths in Maple. Anyway, I used a light and uneven hand and wiped the stain off almost immediately. The result was HIDEOUS. Anyway – I knew it was going to look terrible because the yellow of the board was still coming through. But it’s all about building a story… building a texture.

The next step was to use a dry synthetic brush and some watered down black paint. I just slopped it on with the grain of the wood and wiped it off. In essence, I treated it like stain instead of paint. Now the magic was starting to happen. I did this twice in a row. In this photo, you can see the bottom board has had two passes of the black and the top two haven’t.

Then, it was time to darken the whole thing up and make it nice and rich (like George Clooney. I know he’s rich. I imagine he’s nice.) I used Minwax Gel Stain in Chestnut. Slathered it on and let it sit for about five minutes. Then I wiped it all off.

The end result was pretty – but TOO pretty. I challenged myself to scuff up this armoire turned table top! Using a bunch of random tools, Dan and I beat up my table! HA! It was the BEST way to start a Saturday morning! :)Then I just screwed the top back onto the table and voila!