Furniture

Mini chalkboard table

I saw this abandoned kid’s table on the side of the road on my way home from taking the pup to the groomer. Of course I had to stop and pick it up. It’s not all that often that I see gems on the side of the road, and when I do it’s even less often that I am able to stop and pick them up. So when I saw this table and I wasn’t on my way to work, I had no passengers and I didn’t have a car full of crap, I quickly made a U-turn to pick it up.

Chalkboard Before

 

As most things on the side of the road do, the table needed love. I gave it a good scrubbing and tightened all of the screws so it wouldn’t wobble.

Then, I removed the slide-out white board top and painted the opposite side with chalkboard paint. I figured a duel-use table would be ideal when you have small kids.

To finish the piece off, I spray painted the frame black. To me, it looks much nicer than the yellowy oak color before.

Chalkboard Desk mini

I’d much rather see this little guy in my house than it’s trash-bound alter ego.

chalboard kids table

 

Furniture

Before & After: Child’s Desk

One of the big furniture projects I recently tackled was an overhaul of a kids’s desk. I found this awesome desk at a thrift store, but boy did it need some love.

Child's Desk_Before

I immediately had grand visions for this desk and let me tell you, they didn’t include the mermaid blue, shabby shic look.

So I painted, painted and painted some more. Again, I used a flat white paint and mixed in some Paint Minerals. This stuff gives the paint a chalky finish to it and leaves the surface very smooth. So far, I’m really pleased with how the Paint Minerals works with the paint. You don’t need to sand or prime and it covers really well.

I wanted the book shelves on each side of the piece to pop, so I painted a metallic glaze inside each shelf and then wiped each shelf down with a rag. It created a messy-ish sort of look in each cubby that I really like.

For the top, I painted with a gray-brown chalkboard paint. Some kid is gonna love this desk.

I waxed the whole piece using Johnson Paste Wax. This was my first time using a furniture wax and it left my piece feeling so smooth to the touch.

Check out these after pictures:

Love.

Child's Desk

Love.

Child's Desk Open

Love.Child's Desk shelves

I think this desk was definitely transformed for the better.