Upcycling furniture is something I’ve been doing in my own home for years.
I started doing it for a variety of reasons, the main one being that I hate things going to waste.
So, recently I started up my own up cycling business - The JunkTrunk Glasgow.
The piece I’m showing you today is a freebie.
A friend of my sister was giving it away and me being a scavenger nabbed it before anyone else had the chance.
It’s a beautiful solid wood coffee table. A really sturdy bit of furniture like the kind they used to make back in the days before flat pack.
It didn’t need a whole lot done to it but I wanted it to look a bit more countryish.
First of all if you are taking on any upcycling projects you should try to follow these 3 simple rules to make it the best piece it can be.
1. Clear a work space. As a mother of a child and dog, my house is no longer my own. There are Star Wars toys and dog beds everywhere. I find it best to wait until the little one goes to sleep and then make sure I have enough space to paint without rubbing shoulders with Chewbacca.
2. Prep like a boss. With this particular table I had to sand the bejeezes out of it. For big pieces and badly painted pieces that you wish to fix and electric sander is a wise choice.
3. Take your time. This is my top tip that I’m rubbish at following myself. I want everything done yesterday. However if you are new to painting, do really try to slow things down. It’s easy to mess up and not worth it when you have to sand it all off and start again.
After I had my table sanded and cleaned I decided to keep the top as it was.
The natural wood grain is beautiful and it has six bolts holding it to together which give it a bit of a gothic feature.
These were very dark with grit but I sanded over them to get this to shine a lovely silver again.
I decided to only paint the legs on this table green and covered any edges next to the legs with masking tape.
I opted to use chalk paint which is a wonderful invention.
It leaves a chalk finish (funnily enough) and it is so thick that it covers a multitude of sins and generally only needs one coat.
I’m currently using Rust-oleum products and the colour I’ve gone for is Bramwell Green. I think it's given it the country look I was after.
Like most paints, give it a good stir before you start so the consistency doesn’t change when you start painted.
I really wanted to wax the top of the table as it gives it a more natural look however I figured as a coffee table a clear satin varnish would probably be the better choice.
Coffee tables have a hard time. Everyone puts their feet up on them, or spill their dinner over them. I would most likely spill red wine on mine!
All of this could go through the wax and into the wood. Whereas using a vanish its more likely not to reach the wood.
I used B&Q’s colours clear varnish in the satin range just to it gave it a teeny tiny sheen.
Such simple steps can make a massive difference to a tired piece of furniture.
Thank you for taking time to read my blog.
* You can contact Becky about this finished product which is now for sale. You can ask her any questions via her Facebook page The JunkTrunk Glasgow or instagram page
