Saving A Side Table - Trash to Treasure

Today I am going to show you one of my latest projects.  I really feel like this is a "trash to treasure" type of deal.  My storage war hubby brought home this broken side table that he purchased for $1.50.  YES!  ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS.

When I asked what he planned on doing with this gem, he said "I'm going to put shoe polish on it and cover up the scratches."  Whaaaat???  I think he needs to stick to FINDING the pieces and I'll work on bringing them back to life.

The first thing I did was clean this piece... really good.  When I pulled the drawer out, it fell out and tipped over.  I noticed that the track guide thingy in the back of the drawer was missing.  So I purchased this one from Lowe's and attached it to the bottom of the drawer.  It worked PERFECTLY!

I then decided to paint the body of the table with FolkArt Chalk Paint.  I chose the color Sheepskin and I loved it!  After that, I sanded down the top until only bare wood was showing.  I started doing it by hand and it took forever, so I grabbed my mouse sander and knocked it out very quickly.  I did go back over it by hand with a finer grit sandpaper to make it super smooth.

Next I stained the top with Rustoleum Kona wood stain.  I put two coats on and it gave the top a beautiful dark color.  Three coats of polyurethane and this gem was complete!  Oh, I also gave the piece a very light distressed look by using the stain rag and carefully going over some of the raised parts and outside edges... I am not a fan of dark wax, it makes my pieces look dirty (probably user error).

Are you ready for the final product?

I LOVE IT!  I won't lie either, I almost kept this, but decided it needed a new home.  From the time I listed it, until it sold was approximately 8 minutes.  Wow!

Here is a comparison:

I could work on pieces like this all day.  It really is amazing to see something that was probably going to be trash, get transformed into a treasure.  The new owner was so excited!

Have you transformed trash to treasure?  Isn't it fabulous?!

This post is linked up to these DIY parties:

Sweet Haute

Miss Mustard Seed

Remodelaholic

DIY Showoff

Shabby Art Boutique

Thrifty Decor Chick