Table Transformations!

I've been wanting to do this project for a while, but since it involved spray paint and I live in an apartment the "where to do it" portion of this craft has been an issue.  My apartment complex is really OCD about their grass and I was pretty sure they wouldn't appreciate me using their lawn...

You will need:

1.) a table
2.) a well ventilated place to work
3.) sand paper
4.) painter's tape
5.) spray paint (primer, and color -- clear top coat is optional)
6.) cleaning supplies (wet cloth, knife, etc.) to clean your table prior to painting

So here's a before picture:

Mom brought this table home from school.  It was in the hallway with a "take me or I'm going to be thrown away" sign.

I wiped it down with a wet cloth to get rid of the grime and used a knife to scrape any areas with stickers.  Then I scuffed up the surface with sand paper to make sure the paint would stick.  The flat surfaces on this table are particle board, so this was an important step.  Then I wiped it down with a wet cloth again to get rid of the sand paper residue.  I haven't been watching the New Yankee Workshop for nothing!

Then I took my painters tape and laid out the design I wanted on the top of the table.  You'll see the finished product and think I'm pretty neat.

Since I was doing this out at the farm I was able to find an old piece of plywood and some cinder blocks to do my spray painting on. The trick was distracting the dogs long enough to get the painting done without getting little black hairs in it.  For another project this might be a neat texture, but it was not the look I was going for.

Tabelus Prime!  (I'm a dork and I'm okay with it.)

Hi Mom!  Thanks for checking to make sure I got all the under crannies!

Once you have it primed to your satisfaction you can move on to your color.  I am not a patient person, and spray painting takes patience if you don't want a drippy, gooey mess.  I think I did okay with this though.  When you get your color on and it dries you can take your painters tape off and clean the edges of your design up with a knife.  Then you can apply your clear coat.

Finished product:

The legs need another coat of paint, but I ran out...  I'll either live with it or just paint that part again.

A close up of the top with my fancy design.

The clear coat turned out to be an important part of my particular project.  The table had been in a room of an elementary school so it had some pretty significant damage -- markers, water damage, stickers, scrapes, etc.  The clear coat soaked into these imperfections (especially the water damage) and hid them pretty well.

My only complaint is that it didn't turn out to be a smooth surface.  I think the finish that was already on the particle board reacted with the paint somehow.  Oh well, it's still a pretty good table for the $10 in paint I have in it!!!