Blue Table

I stopped in a Goodwill with my husband over Christmas. We saw this table for like $5. Its water damaged, like really water damaged. The quarter inch thick veneer on the top of it was peeling up like wings on each side. Everyone who walked by was pushing down on it trying to see if it would even go back. Needless to say, I did in fact drag it home. I decided to paint it to match the mirror in my dining room (Maybe I’ll post that project some time). I wish I had a taken a picture of the table before I started gluing everything down…

1) Glue down veneer.  This step was just patience and clamps. I glued down one side at a time hoping to minimize the stress on the wood. Side note, wipe off any excess glue, it is harder than the wood and about impossible to get off without getting out some carving knifes. I used wax paper so that I didn’t gum up my clamps.

2) Wood Putty! Of course, with something in that bad off shape, there will be imperfections to minimize.

3) Sanding. I sanded the wood putty and then roughed up all of the other surfaces so the paint would stick.

4) Carving. There were pieced missing along the bevel that had to be put back. Between that and the extra glue, I had some carving to along the edges. Steps 2 and 3 were repeated as necessary.

5) Primer. I sprayed the table with a coat of primer. This is partially to make the paint adhere better to any areas that still had stain on them.

6) Navy base paint. I wanted this table to have a faux patinaed brass finish with a twist. If I was doing a traditional patina, I’d probably spray down an espresso brown or an OD green base (in matte because this is tarnish y’all).  I’m making this patina with navy, cobalt blue, turquoise, and finally antique brass highlights.

7) Hand rubbed acrylic paint layers. These paints (except for the antique brass) are also matte as they are a continuation of the patina. I tried to leave some navy in the deepest cracks. The cobalt blue was then used liberally, followed by the turquoise and the brass only in the high spots. There was some finessing between colors until the level of patina was right in each area of the table. I wanted the top to look like the patina had largely been rubbed off with use while the legs were hardly touched.