All Gus'ed Up: Easy Table Makeover


How many of you have a little table that has seen better days? Maybe it's in the attic or the garage or still in the house - because it's perfectly functional, just not as pretty as it was when it was new. Well, Gus has a solution for you! A makeover for your table that's easy-to-do and costs under $5!

{enjoy the view} | easy table makeover

I bought two of these tables about 8 years ago when we lived in our old house. Hey, I was going through a Margaritaville stage. Don't judge. <grin> We brought them with us when we moved: one went in the basement for Buddy's laptop, and the other went in the garage for Gus's crap important manly garage stuff.

I had been looking for a plant stand to put on the front porch, in the corner by the door - but the cheapest one I could find was $40! My cheap crafty side wouldn't allow me to pay that much for it when I knew we could create something for much less. Gus and I discussed how we were going to "cover" the top and eventually decided to go with wood.

What we used:

Gus worked on the legs of the table first - he scuffed them with a little sandpaper, rinsed them off, let them dry, then painted them with the black Rustoleum paint.

{enjoy the view} | easy table paint

Here's the obligatory shot of Gus a shot of Gus cutting the furring strips to size:

{enjoy the view} | cutting furring strips

Obviously, the amount of wood you need and the length of the strips will depend upon the size of your table. Our table was 13.75" square. Gus cut four pieces of wood and filed the ends with a wood file/rasp. Then he positioned the strips like this - and glued and nailed them into place:

{enjoy the view} | diagram for furring strips

Yes, I realize that the diagram is flipped from what the picture shows, but you get the idea!

{enjoy the view} | how to attach furring strips

The rest of the wood was cut into strips that covered the frame - so we measured the frame and the wood strips to determine how many we would need. It turned out that we needed 10 strips (15.5" long), and there would be a little space between each one. Again, after they were cut, Gus used the rasp on the cut ends to smooth them out a bit.

{enjoy the view} | another furring strip diagram

He put the end pieces on first, and then worked his way inward.

{enjoy the view} | making the table top

Each piece was glued and nailed into place - don't forget to position the pieces first so that you can make any adjustments before they're attached. We didn't sand the surface because we wanted a rougher, weathered look, but you can certainly sand it if you want it to be smooth.

{enjoy the view} | making a plant stand

Doesn't it look great? And it was QUICK, EASY, AND INEXPENSIVE. Love those words!

Now it's time for the finish. We decided to do "weathered' wood, just like for the weathered wood frames we did in the kitchen. As a matter of fact, I used the same stain and paint.

{enjoy the view} | minwax & Behr paint
{enjoy the view} | custom Behr paint

First, I sprayed the wood with a little water, because I didn't want the stain to penetrate too deeply. Then I brushed a light coat of the stain onto the wood and wiped it off immediately. I wasn't careful - some spots were dark, some were light - but I wanted it to be like that. Obviously, if you are just staining it, you'll want to be more careful with the application. You could just use paint, but I would make sure it was some type of exterior paint if the table will be outside.

Immediately after staining, I applied some of the watered-down grey paint. Again, I brushed it on, but I let it sit a little longer than the stain - then gently wiped it off, leaving a little paint behind.

{enjoy the view} | how to make weathered wood

Perfect! How cool does that look? I love it!!! If you want to see how we stacked the flower pots, you can see the tutorial here.
{enjoy the view} | table before & after
{enjoy the view} | weathered wood plant stand
{enjoy the view} | weathered wood table top

Are you ready to give it a try? Or have you already done a table makeover? Tell me about it!

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 (Disclosure: There are affiliate links in the "what we used" section. Any purchases made via those links help me to keep {enjoy the view} up and running - and they also help fund my crafty projects!)
Kim
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