DIY Coffee Table Makeover

This coffee table was actually a hand-me-down when I first moved out of my house in 1996. Pretty sure it was old at that point, but it didn't look nearly as bad then as it did this past summer when I decided to try my hand at restoring it. (It has glass panels, but I had already taken them out before I took this photo.)

I am currently in the process of taking down old wallpaper and getting ready to repaint the walls (and most likely some other stuff). I fell in love with the Coastal Cool color collection from Sherwin Williams - not a paid endorsement, just telling you the colors I like - and decided I wanted to try doing a combination of paint and stain to complete this project.

The first thing I did was sand it all down. The finish was in terrible shape so it didn't take a whole lot of effort on the top, but the legs took a little longer. Once it was ready to go I stained the top using Rust-Oleum's Driftwood oil-based stain. I wasn't sure how it would look over the reddish wood, but I think it came out pretty nice!

I painted the legs using Sherwin Williams' Comfort Gray from the Coastal Cool collection. I don't actually live near the ocean, but I love the relaxed, comfortable colors of a beach house.

Once the paint and stain were dry I used a clear, semi-gloss polyurethane top coat on the whole table. I gave the legs two coats, but ended up putting three on the table top, figuring it would get a lot of use in my living room.

The legs are a little washed out from my flash, but the table ended up looking so nice - certainly better than the way it was at the beginning of the summer. :)