my first "revamping" project.

The church that Michael went to preschool at, had a rummage sale. I have never been to a garage sale or rummage sale before. I've seen lots and lots of blogs of people that find old pieces of furniture and revamp them into something incredible.

 I saw this coffee table, and even though it was huge, I thought it might work for our living room.  I bought it for $20.

This is it right out of the car.

My original plan was to sand it down, and stain it a dark brown.

It also  had these weird panels in each center...and I brainstormed several things to do. 

Cover them with a cute fabric? tile them? make a picture collage?

In the end, I just beat them out. I didn't want to put very much money into this project, in-case it didn't turn out...

Here it is after several hours of sanding. Then I decided maybe I should a chemical stripper. That definitely did not work...only made it gooey. So, I dropped the idea of staining it, and now more than a month into the project, I decided it was time to finish. 

I bought some antique white spray-paint, and painted a few coats. 

Then I distressed the edges a little...

And put a light coat of stain over top, and immediately wiped it off, to try to give it more of the popular "shabby-chic" look that is popular these days...

I wish I hadn't. I'm not very good at it, and it was blotchy, so I spraypainted over it in some spots....

Then I  polyurethaned it. (is that a word? verb?) about 5 coats. 

And it was done.

MUCH better than the before:

However, the tiny fingerprints on it DAILY, and just the fact that it is glass, we decided it had to go. 

After several listings on craigslist, and a garage sale, a few more listings on craigslist, I finally sold it. 

for $30. 

Oh well. :) 

It was a learning experience. 

And yes, I'll probably do it again...

In fact...I am...right now. :) 

...to be continued.... :