a quick fix

I rearrange my room frequently. Not necessarily the whole room, really, but various corners at a time. I’m always trying to store things more effectively, and I love the rush of creative energy that comes from a quick overhaul, the yes, i can get things done here feeling.

Yesterday was one of those rearranging days.

As I shuffled through piles of paper, I unearthed the top of this little table. We salvaged it from the curb of our neighbor, who used it as a table for plants until, presumably, she got sick of the water rings on its surface. When I needed a table for my printer last summer, I got it out of the basement and put it to work, leaving its makeover for a future date. And yesterday was way past that future date… the makeover was a necessity.

I taped very carefully around the bottom lip of the tabletop, and then constructed a newspaper “skirt” to protect the legs as I painted. I got some great pointers from Kristen’s How to Paint Wooden Furniture guide… the spray primer was awesome and saved me a ton of time. I sanded between primer and paint, and I even did some light sanding between coats of paint. After sanding, I wiped the whole piece with a tack cloth. In the end it took 2 coats of primer and 3 thin coats of paint.

Somehow, I never thought really thin coats of paint were a good idea. It always sounded like a waste of time – who likes watching paint dry? I always figured it would be easiest to get a uniform coat if I used lots and lots of paint. Which worked – halfway. I always lost the grain of the wood, but in its place I got to see all my brush strokes.

But this time, I went with thin coats, and it was a very good choice. The top is smooth and uniformly coated, and my brush strokes are invisible. The wood grain peeks through nicely, happy to be sporting color rather than lack-of-coaster rings. It was a good use of an icky, rainy day, and great practice for the refinishing of my desk that will hopefully be commencing shortly! I am also very pleased with my choice to leave the legs natural… it looks super classy!

What about you? Any spring projects planned?