This project nearly made me hang up my paintbrush, and it will not make my top 10 list when I eventually reach my goal! It still fights me by refusing to be photogenic. Trust me when I tell you that the table top looks better in person than it does in any pics.
A friend of mine originally bought this end table as part of a living room set in the early 2000s. The matching coffee table had not withstood the rigors of raising four children; this table showed the scars, and had been put to the curb. It is a good quality Klaussner table that needed a complete makeover. The flare of the legs, the grid pattern of the lower shelf, and the upward curved edges of the top were what inspired the Japanese-style makeover.
Materials used: Rust-Oleum 2X Ultracover primer, Rust-Oleum 2X Ultracover gloss Colonial red, Varathane wood stain (Kona), Folk Art Treasure Gold 5535, Varathane oil-based polyurethane in satin.
A previous paint job desperately needed fixing.
After I dismantled the table, I used paint stripper to remove most of the finish on the top.
I then sanded the top down to bare wood and painted it matte black.
Meanwhile I sanded and primed the legs and lattice shelf (which was no mean feat). My Dremel 3000 with a sanding attachment was invaluable on the lattice work.
My vision really started to take form when I painted the legs and lattice with Rust-Oleum Colonial Red in a gloss finish.
Turning my attention back to the table top, I printed and cut out some cherry blossom clip art. I transferred the image to the matte black surface using a chalk pencil (part tracing the outline and part freehand). Next I used my Dremel Diamond Wheel Point engraving attachment to carve the image into the wood. A coat of Varathane wood stain in Kona darkened the carved wood, and then I picked out some details with Folk Art Treasure Gold 5535.
Everything was going perfectly (top right pic), until I applied the final coats of lacquer and it turned blotchy and cloudy.
The only way to remove the blotchy lacquer was to sand back to the bare wood again. Since I didn’t want to paint over the engraving, this time I decided to stain the surface. After three applications of Varathane wood stain in Kona, the top was a lovely rich brown color.
I liked the soft sheen so much I decided to apply wax instead of polyurethane at this point. However, the final coats of wax also looked blotchy, no matter how much I buffed it. It was back to the drawing board again as I removed the wax finish with mineral spirits and re-sanded the surface.
After removing the wax, I needed to stain the surface again and touch up the gold details. When I was satisfied with how it looked, I went with finish #3: Varathane oil-based polyurethane in a satin finish. Finally I had success.
Transforming Trash 