Makely

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The Once ‘Toxic’ Coffee Table

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You may remember this jewel that entered my house about a month ago via the free section of CraigsList.

In fact, I’m positive that if you saw my post back then and my letter to the table’s original “creator”, then you most definitely remember it. How would it be possible to forget such a wonderful collaboration between Britney Spears and Kid Rock? It’s probably seared into your brain, and for that I am sorry.

But…did you ever think it could be reborn as this?

“Wait, what? That’s the same table?” you are asking yourself. Why yes, yes it is.

After stripping, sanding, rebuilding, priming, painting, distressing and sealing, my free Britney Spears coffee table as turned into one of my favorite pieces in my home.

I added new legs and used them to make the table a little taller. I added new dividers, covered them with wainscoting, and edged them with trim. I painted the table with paint left over from the playroom armoire redo. The whole project probably cost me about $40.


I distressed it with a hammer and some sort of nail-type thing I found in the garage.

When adding accessories to my coffee table, I tried to remember the tablescape discussion we had last week. I think I was able to pull off the books-natural element-bowl/plate/tray trifecta pretty well.


I cut some branches off of one of the bushes in our front yard, added them to a glass vase that had come with a floral bouquet years ago, and tied a scrap of burlap around the vase. The books are some of my favorites: a thrift store poetry book and a Texas gardening book on the top and a stack of Pottery Barn decorating books in one of the bottom sections. A little urn filled with acorns sits on top of the Pottery Barn books and a white tray filled with to-be-read magazines sits on the other side. I bought a basket from Target to put in the middle section to collect the random stuff that finds it’s way to the living room. I added a sweet Tiger Stripe pumpkin and a few candles to complete the look.

There’s plenty of space left for feet, board games, computers, dirty socks, school work, and all the other things you guys mentioned that are on top of your coffee tables. Believe it or not, but my child/dogs/husband have not touched ANYTHING on this table once in the past week. NOT ONCE. Go me!

(Please ignore the whole clock/DVR/DVD player situation going on over there. I have big plans for that area, but I have to find the exact right piece to make it work…so I’m waiting.)

What do you think? I LOVE it, and I feel like I have righted a wrong in this world.

I feel like I have earned about a million karma points with this transformation.

Wood Epoxy Putty: Play-Doh for DIY Grown Ups

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Have you ever had a picture frame with a broken corner? Has the leg of one of your chairs ever gotten gouged during a move (or through the course of your daily life)? Have you ever started to work on the ugliest free coffee table in existence and found a 6-inch section of moulding was missing?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, I’d like to introduce to you to my new friend – wood epoxy putty.

Found at home improvement stores, it comes in a tube and can be kneaded and molded just like modeling clay. You can use it to repair wood imperfections and it can be sanded, painted, stained, and drilled in an hour. In other words, it’s simply magic.


QuikWood

I’m sure there are several different brands, but the brand I use is QuikWood. I found it in the paint section of Home Depot and it cost about $3 a tube.

Following the directions, it only took me about 10 minutes to repair my table. On a plastic cutting board, I cut a piece of putty about an inch long, kneaded it together like Play-Doh, and then just stuck it on my table where the bit of moulding was missing. I made sure to build it up enough so that it was slightly higher than the existing moulding.

Once dry, all I had to do was sand it to get it level and even with the rest of the moulding.




Clearly, the table needs to be painted, but once it’s all the same color, you will never be able to tell that this piece of moulding was repaired. See? I told you it was magic! Once my table is finished, I dare you – dare you – to find the spot I repaired. You totally won’t be able to do it.

Wood epoxy putty has opened up a new world to me. Before, I only knew about wood filler, which has nothing on wood epoxy putty. Are you ready to run out and buy some to try right this very minute? Yeah, I thought so.