I found this pair of end tables at a local used furniture shop and immediately fell in love. They were dark, a little worn, and definitely needed some attention – but all I could see were those gorgeous curved legs, carved details, and scalloped edges. For $100 for the pair, they came home with me, and I decided to give them a French country end table makeover .
The tops were actually leather, which might make some furniture purists cringe when I tell you what happened next…..I painted right over them. Sorry, not sorry. ; ) In this French country end table makeover, it had to be done.
I started with a layer of black paint, covering the entire table – including the leather top. I knew black wasn’t where I wanted to end up, but it gave me a dark foundation to build on and helped create the depth I wanted in the finished pieces.
This was before we finished our basement, so my painting setup was pretty glamorous – cardboard on the floor next to the laundry area. I’ve always painted wherever I could find the space!
I didn’t use just one coat of paint and call it finished. I built the color in several layers, which gave the tables much more depth and helped create the aged look I wanted. Once I was happy with the base, I went back over the edges, carvings and architectural details with metallic acrylic paints in varying shades of gold, silver and pearl.
I wasn’t particularly concerned with making every detail match perfectly, In fact, the variation was part of the point. The different metallic tones caught the raised areas and emphasized all of those beautiful details that had practically disappeared against the original dark finish. I finished the tables with Minwax Dark Finishing Paste Wax to give them an even more aged look.
Years later, they’re still being used – and they’re still one of my favorite furniture makeovers. They’re a perfect example of why I’m always willing to look past an outdated finish when a piece has beautiful bones. For $100 and a little paint, those forgotten end tables became pieces I still love living with today.
This product was used for the ultra white layer. The creamier white layer was painted in Waverly Cashew and no longer available.
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