Ethan Allen Coffee Table Redesign

Last year I bought this oval, Ethan Allen coffee table at a thrift store.  I gave it a white makeover but when we moved it took a little beating that messed up the table top.  I didn't feel like fixing it at the time so I put it in the basement and forgot about it.  A couple days ago I was itching to paint a piece of furniture.  So I checked my inventory and saw the table looking sad and neglected, begging to get out of the basement.  It wanted to give it another completely different makeover.  Below is what it looked like when I first brought it home and after the first makeover.

Ethan Allen indented on bottom of table top

  I wanted to recreate the color scheme of a table I had done before.  So I needed to change the color of the table from white to grey and I wanted a layered overtime effect and a stained top.  The table shown here is the one I wanted to recreate the color scheme of.

So I started by sanding the top off completely but leaving some white paint all around the edge.  I felt like the bottom could benefit from a shelf.  At first I thought I would cut a piece of plywood and attach it to the bottom but then I got the idea of doing a slatted bottom instead.  So I measured the bottom to get my measurements for the slats.  I enlisted the help of my husband to make the cuts because he is faster than me.  He was happy to help!

After I had all the pieces cut I sanded them and made the pocket holes with my Kreg Jig.  I vacuumed all the pieces and the coffee table and then cleaned everything off with a damp cloth to get all the dust off.  Then I decided I wanted to give the table a little bit more of  a distressed character look (aka beat the crap off the top with random tools).  After I was done distressing it I gave it another light sanding to smooth out some of the tough love and cleaned it again.

Now it was ready for the fun part.  I picked Minwax Jacobean stain for the top and Pantone's Griffin paint for the bottom.  I stained the top using a foam brush and a lint free cloth to remove the excess stain.  I also used a foam brush to apply stain blocking primer to the slats.

 I used a 2" angled brush to paint the base of the table and the slats.  Once I started to paint the top in Griffin, I didn't like it.  I needed a darker grey to have more contrast between the exposed white edges.  So I grabbed one of my Valspars Signature grey colors, (sorry I don't know the name of the exact color) and went over it with a couple coats until I got full coverage.  I painted the slats before attaching them because it was easier this way and after I was done attaching them I could do a last coat of paint on the whole thing to fix any nicks and scratches.

 Then I removed the table top to seal it with Minwax Gloss Polycrylic.  I did three coats for protection and durability and I sanding in between each coat to smooth out any bubbles.

While the table top dried I turned the base upside down to measure and attach all the slats.  I forgot to take pictures of this step because this step was very long and tedious.  I was just in my zone, trying to get it done!  I was half way through screwing the slats when I realized I measured wrong, ugh! I had to unscrew all of my work and start all over again.  I hate when that happens!  Oh well, I measured again and I did it right this time.  Then I cleaned up the sawdust created by the screwing and gave the whole table one last coat of paint, outside, inside and under.

The next step was to distress the base of the table with sand paper to give it even more character and show the layers of paints, primer and wood.  After distressing the base I sealed it with polycrylic for added durability.

 I waited for everything to dry to put it back together and throw pictures of it outside.

Here are a couple close ups of the distressed paint.

And the distressing I did on the top with random tools.  I love this!

I made some faux wormholes 

I also did some indoor styled pictures for fun.  Please don't mind the golden reindeer in front of the fireplace.  No I'm not getting ready to decorate for Christmas way before Halloween.  I just bought it this weekend at a tag sale and placed it there to send a picture to my hubby of my $1 tag sale score and I haven't put it away yet.  Who knows it might just stay there until Christmas and then I will put it away after ;-)

I am so happy I decided to add the slatted shelf on the bottom.  I was able to add storage to the bottom of the coffee table and give it some more character.  Now it can be used to store books, magazines, board games or with some cute woven baskets to hide unsightly junk, or extra throws and pillows......

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