side table furniture makeover

Hey guys! I’m Reeves and I blog at The Weathered Door where I share furniture Before & Afters (along with lots of info and tutorials) and some DIY and home decor projects. Today I’m here to share with you a quick little update I did to an old side table.

I’m sure most people have a piece of furniture sitting around that is (or can be) totally functional, but it needs some updating. That’s how it was for this piece. I wasn’t into the green color it came to me with and there were a couple little spots that needed some attention. After hiding in the garage it was time to pull it out and freshen it up.

The main problem was a little crack that had opened up in the wood overtime that needed some filler along with some deep wood grain on the top and a few small knicks on the base. Nothing a bit of sanding and filling couldn’t fix. I used my favorite filler, Bondo glazing putty. It’s best for filling small scratches and dings which was perfect for this project. Once I filled all the spots I let it dry for about an hour and then sanded everything smooth with 150 grit sandpaper. After a wipe down with a damp cloth I used a spray can of Zinsser Cover Stain to prime the table.

The spray primer gives a smooth finish but I did use a 220 sanding sponge to smooth it out before painting. To make things easy on myself I sprayed on 2 coats of General Finishes ‘Lamp Black’ milk paint (it’s an acrylic paint, not a true milk paint) with my HVLP spray gun. You can find information on the gun and tools I use for spraying furniture here. The first coat I sprayed on the legs I had the able turned upside down to get into all of the crevices, then I turned it right side up for the second coat. It took 2 quick coats, and once they dried I sprayed on General Finishes high performance topcoat in satin. In all it took me about 2 hours (not including dry time, I was doing other productive things during that time 🙂 ). Not bad for a quick update to make this piece a little more classy!

Thanks so much for letting me share with you today! You can find more projects over at The Weathered Door. Stay connected and see what else I’m working on: