Using paint on a small entry table to add some great character.

I have talked before about how exciting it is going to live auctions can be, but boy if you haven’t gone to one, you should try it out! Of course they can get long, but we have gotten so many great pieces at great prices this year that it’s unbelievable.

Anyway, we have a really great live auction Vicki and I go to which is where we found this little table. This particular day we had something interesting happen to us. We have noticed that you have to be careful when looking at pieces you really like. We have had people follow us around to find the quality pieces before. But at this one, we were placing our furniture in a pile (just like everyone else after purchasing) and continuing around. But when I looked over to our pile, this table was moved and the stool that was underneath it was gone!

I don’t know what happened, but I ended up finding the stool we bought over by the door so I snatched it up right away and took it to the car. That was the most interesting (and frightening) thing that has happened to us, needless to say, we take the small pieces to the car ASAP now..!

Vicki had a clear vision for this and wanted to paint it dark blue. I ended up taking it to my home workshop since it was one of the smaller items that would fit in my car 😉

After sanding, and wiping down I began by painting the bottom half with Annie Sloan’s “Napoleonic Blue”. I took a step back before beginning the top and saw the raw top with the painted bottom and loved it! So I texted a quick picture to Vicki to see what she liked. She definitely liked the two-tone look so I grabbed some stain to enhance the top.

Normally we would recommend to do any staining first, before your paint, but I guess that doesn’t always seem to work! When we saw the two tone look, we knew that was the direction we needed to go in. Just be careful not to drip or splash stain on your paint.

Once the stain and paint was dry, sealant was required to finish the piece. We used 3 coats of polycrylic for the wood top and Annie Sloan’s wax for the painted bottom. Using clear wax first and then the black wax over the top of that to really enrich the blue color. It darkened the original color, but added a wonderful warm depth to make it a beautiful Navy blue.

To me the table felt like it needed to be styled with a bit of industrial decor. I pictured it in an entryway with industrial farmhouse decor or in an office. I styled it with a great vintage typewriter, a vase with eucalyptus in it, some old books and some chippy tin tiles on the wall.

Linking with: Dishing It and Digging It, Wow Us Wednesday,

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