Table & Chairs Makeover

When I moved into my first apartment after college, I was completely furniture-less. I sat in camp chairs for weeks and ate all of my meals on the floor. Once my paychecks started coming in, I finally purchased the necessities (a bed and a couch), but instead of spending money on a dining room table and chairs, Nick's aunt and uncle were kind enough to give me a small table and two chairs for free.

The wooden table had a glass top with wicker underneath, but the wicker just wasn't really my style. I decided to paint the table and chairs black and I made a photo collage to place underneath the glass and cover up the wicker. I used film contact sheets from my high school photography classes to make a film strip college on black wrapping paper. (Sound familiar, you guys? We photograph on it a LOT!)


For the past couple years, I've still loved this table. It's fun to glimpse the photos and think of all these memories every time I sit down for a meal. Recently, however,  it's starting to look a little worse for wear with chipped paint and wrinkling paper. Not to mention, we never changed this table from when I lived alone to when we moved in together, so we decided it was time to give the table a makeover that's not just for me, but for us.


Here's what we used!
- Sandpaper
- White paint (Frost by Behr in Eggshell)
- Gold spray paint (Rust-oleum Pure Gold Metallic Paint & Printer In One)
- Masking tape (or painter's tape)
- Plastic shower curtain (or drop cloth)
- Paint brushes
- Fabric
- Craft paper
- Scissors
- Pencil

Here's what we did!
- First we gave the table and chairs a good sanding and wiped them down with a wet paper towel once we were finished.
- Since we decided to spray paint the gold rather than use a brush, we wanted to do this step first in case there was any overlap onto the white. We decided how far up the legs we wanted the gold to go and we sprayed the table and chairs with two coats of paint, letting the paint dry completely between coats. (For the chairs it was more like four coats because we had to flip them over to make sure we got the undersides of the supports).
- After the spray paint was dry, we brought the chairs inside and put them on a shower curtain that we use as a drop cloth. We taped off the legs and then brush painted the white paint on chairs and table. We decided not to use a primer, as our paint has primer in it, however, we still did need three coats since we were covering black paint with white paint.


- Instead of putting paper underneath the glass again, this time we opted to use fabric. The fabric we purchased has a subtle pattern on it that you can see up close (not so much in these photos). I definitely like that it's nice and bright and not as in your face as the photo strips.
- We ironed the fabric to remove any wrinkles and then we laid it flat out on the floor and placed the glass on top of it. We used a pencil to trace around the glass and then cut out the fabric circle.
- We laid the fabric on top of the wicker but quickly realized that the pattern of the wicker was visible through the fabric, so we decided to use the glass again to trace and cut out another circle with craft paper this time. We placed the craft paper in first, then the fabric, and finally laid the glass on top.
- For the finishing touches, we purchased green seat cushions from Ikea, as well as a cute little plant (that we can't wait to see bloom!)


I love this makeover. At first I was a little unsure if I did, probably because I was just so used to the black. But the more I look at it, the more I love it. The white makes everything look much cleaner and brighter. I think the addition of the green seat cushions and the plant also made me like this about 10 times more too.


Nick and I eat breakfast and dinner together at this table every day so I'm especially glad that for a small amount of money, we created a unique and happy area that we both love.


Anyone doing any makeover or painting projects in your home? Share with us in the comments! (By the way, if you like our mugs, you can find the tutorial here!) Have a great week!

Sarah & Nick