The first warm day of spring and I took advantage of the weather to put a coat of poly on this elegant side table. Originally, the table was a nice size and shape when I found it at Goodwill for only $2. The top had a thin verneer that was damaged. After sanding, the top was still not perfectly smooth, but at that point, I had sanded right through the verneer and was hitting particle board. I think there had been water damage.
A light grey coat of Cottage Paint (Chalk Paint) did a great job of filling in the particles and the cracks. Once I added a stencil across the top, the damage was undetectable. I sprayed the brass handle with Krylon's Looking Glass spray to give it the silvery color that matches the grey of the table.

 I usually line all the drawers with old maps. This one is a map of Paris!









Below is the stencil process. I started in the middle and worked my way to the edges.

Hexagon - not just any polygon!

Remember all the polygon shapes - like hexagon, heptagon and octagon? I do, and I like to laugh when I see these old brown end tables from the '70's. They old a whole lot of phonebooks. Well now days, maybe board games or Wii games or anything that a person would like to stash away. No longer brown and boring, these tables have been updated with some trees and buildings in pale blues and greens.
Now for sale.

Tone it down!

Sometimes I love color so much, I forget to use some neutral paint to tone it down. I'm referring to the wild green dresser in the past post that is NOW toned down to look a little more normal. It won't light up the room on its own. I've added some pale gray Cottage Paint on the sides and between the drawers. Black Cottage Paint is now on the top. It looks fun and earthy, but not so GREEN as before!