Woman in Real Life

As you can see in the upper left of the collage above, the table had previously been painted with a smooshy white and pale green effect. I suspect that's why it ended up in the trash. I envisioned a quick and simple refresh - a light sand over the current paint, followed by a few layers of spray paint.

Unfortunately, we got a bit impatient. I started with sandpaper, then moved onto an electric sanding tool. Then my husband decided to bring out the big guns, taking the belt sander to the tabletop. That's when our quick project became a smidge longer. The belt sander took the centre of the tabletop down to the original, shiny surface. We tried to persevere with our lazy approach. We sanded the paint that was still left on the tabletop lightly, covered the whole thing with white primer and hoped the paint would ultimately hide the uneven areas.

As you can see, we got a bit of pink spray paint on and decided that, no, the lazy approach wouldn't work after all. You could see the uneven surface underneath. I know, I know, preparation is the key to success with painting! So we started the tabletop over again, using a liquid furniture stripper to quickly remove all finishes. Once that was done, I primed the whole table with white spray primer and then applied about three coats of the berry pink spray paint.


To review the materials used, we stripped the tabletop with this Heirloom furniture stripper, which we applied with a brush and left on for a few minutes. It worked quickly and well. We then removed the stripper with a cloth, went over the surface with a cloth dipped in paint thinner and scraped any remaining finish off the top. (We left the paint on the legs and bottom of the table and gave those areas a light sanding by hand.)



Here is the finished side table, placed next to the white couch on the living room end of our office/living room. I really enjoy seeing the refinished table when I pass by the room. It has a lot more impact than it did previously, as it hid in the corner covered by a portable record player. Even though it's an inexpensive type of table, I feel satisfaction in re-purposing it rather than sending it to landfill.

I accessorized my glossy pink table with some amazingly beautiful finds from O.co (also known as Overstock.com). To start with, there's this gorgeous Ellesmere throw from India, which I draped over the arm of the white sofa next to the table. I cannot even explain to you how great this throw feels to the touch. (I wish you could feel it through your screen.) It's soft and stretchy and as comforting as a hug. It begs to be shared with a loved one. And it has such a pretty pattern and colour scheme (focusing on pink, naturally).


I am equally as fond of these gold tone alligator bookends. They are a perfect whimsical note for my vibrant pink table. Do you see the alligator's tail on the other side of the books? The alligator's low profile is perfect for small books and the glossy gold makes it a fun decor accent.


Also the perfect balance of stylish and whimsical are these Coffee Shop by Boston Warehouse S/4 espresso cups. Bonjour! Cheerio! Hello! Buon giorno! These espresso cups offer greetings in four different languages, with cute illustrations to match. I don't even drink espresso - I just wanted these cups because they are so darn adorable. We will indeed use them when my Italian mother-in-law comes over though. She likes to end a meal with espresso made on the stove.

Do you have any old furniture that could use a spray paint makeover? What colour will you go for? And finally, do you drink espresso? (I hear it can fuel you through a lot of spray painting sessions.)

If you are feeling inspired to do a flirty, feminine furniture makeover of your own, here's a handy pinnable collage:

Now it's time to see the rest of the DIY spray paint project ideas from my talented Canadian blogging friends!




*I received products from O.co to facilitate this post. All opinions are authentic and my own. Thank you for supporting the awesome companies that partner with Woman in Real Life.