Coffee Table makeover

About three or four years ago, Jeff and I bought new living room furniture and came across a coffee table in the "scratch and dent" section and because we were buying a whole new living room set, the store threw it in for $25.00.  It had one scratch on the top about three inches long but was barely noticeable because it was also distressed by the manufacturer.  Distressed and/or distressable furniture is a must in our house.  Here's what it looked like as of a couple of days ago.

I have an in-house staff of distressors.

I've been wanting to refinish it for a while and now that we're having some warmer weather, I jumped right into it, without much of a plan.  That's how I roll.

I started by sanding off the table tops old finish with an orbital sander.  At least I think that's what it is.

I left a smidge of the old stain color hear and there and tried not to sand out too much of my children's distressing. 

 I like musing over their artwork, permanently etched into the wood and it's my prefered method of keeping track of their handwriting skills.  Madison's handwriting has made tremendous improvements over the last couple of years.

Then, with the help of one of my chickens, I primed and painted white over the old finish on the base of the table. 

 

I had to fire her when she went to take her 10 minute break and roosted on the wet paint.

Then I mixed a little bit of black acrylic craft paint in with some white to make a medium grey and watered it down by about 50%.  I wanted to go for a slightly weathered look and I wanted to keep the paint thin enough that I could still see through it.  I'm sure there are better methods but I'm just working with what I already had.

I brushed the mixture onto one board at a time then, with a damp towel, I rubbed most of it back off.

On the right side of the picture below, you can see the effect it had.

Next, I mixed some clear, glossy varnish with some medium brown acrylic craft paint and painted it on one board at a time followed by rubbing it down with a damp towel again.

I was both surprised and happy with the results I got considering the materials I used.

My children's handiwork is still visible.

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 Between Naps on the Porch for Met Monday

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Twice Remembered Cottage for Make Your Monday
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The Girl Creative for Just Something I Whipped Up
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Blue Cricket Design for Show and Tell
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My Backyard Eden for Make it Yours Day
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Reinvinted for Trash to Treasure Tuesday
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Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday
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Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
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