The tables they are a-changing

I mentioned yesterday the tables in the living room got a bit of a face lift.  I have been wanting to replace our coffee table for about 6 months.  I have been living with it, thinking that with the next check, I will get a new table.  Well, 6 months later, I have found other, better uses for the money.  And yes, I still want to replace the coffee table.  But until then,  I thought I would make it less of an eyesore.  I mean really, who knows when I will ever actually buy the table?

So here is my before picture...

Actually, this is the true before, but the other is a better picture.

And here is the after.

Looks a ton lighter, right?

I started by removing the bottom board to visually open it up, but you can see that is was still feeling a bit too heavy and need to be lightened up.

It was also looking worse for the wear. 

After I primed the piece I decided to fill in the cracks and give it a smooth top.

 I then chose white for the base (because I had some left over) and I used chalk board paint on the top (again left over paint). 

The white lightens it up, solving the problem of being top heavy.  You can now actually see the shelf.  I choose to use chalkboard paint, because of the texture and the color it gets once chalk had been erased.  I haven't let the kids use it yet, but I am sure they will start having fun.

I also tweaked the side table.  This table is not in the best condition, but being the sentimetalist, that I am I can't see not having it.  It was my grandmother's after all.

Here is the starting point...

And here it is finished...

I don't have a lot to say about this one.  It is pretty straight forward.  I just think it looks better.

Now I just need to decide what to do with this piece...

It is all kinds of wrong for the room (style and color), but it is also all kinds of right (size and function).

Total cost = Free

-Laurie