Make a Table Match the Bed Baby 1,2,3 (part one)

Well not exactly 1,2,3…see what happened is I purchased two little cube tables from Walmart.  I think they were $15 for the set.   I thought I needed them when I saw them but then after I got them I never really used them.  This project involves using the two of them as a base for a bigger table.

I purchased a piece of 2’x4′ chipboard.   I could have purchased a hardwood board but I decided against it.  After I painted it I decided I wanted real wood, in case it got wet, so I went back and purchased a sheet of 2×4 laun (which turned out to be smaller) and glued it on top.  The end result?  I wound up saving only a dollar or two and making more work for myself. I should have gotten the wood in the beginning.  I don’t know what I was thinking…it must be the fever!

I changed my mind so many times on the design  that it was giving me a headache.   I was going to use this design  but then I changed my mind since it is clearly a wedding design.

Then I decided to do an elephant but I could not find a simple one I liked with the trunk turned up,  

then flowers, but could not decide on any that meant something I liked and this went on for a couple of days. Finally, in frustration,  I decided to use the pattern from my bedspread.

Genius right?  Next decision to make  was on color.  I had already primed the table and put two coats of  Valspar Coral Sand then I changed my mind on my colors so I wrote Valspar and asked their advice on what matches well with this Cherry Mocha I have painted on my walls.  They did not write me back right away so I picked my own colors; then of course,  Valspar wrote me back and gave me some colors that I liked, so I decided to roll with their pallet.

I took photos of my comforter

and created JPG files that I transferred into the Silhouette design studio to use on two pieces of  12″ x 48″ pieces of contact paper. I wanted this piece to be the bottom border

I made this one really large to put a quarter slice of it in the top two corners.

I decided to cut the contact paper the full width of the Cameo instead of the usual 12″ to prevent it from sliding on the cameo.   I can’t waste any more vinyl. If you don’t have a silhouette but are thinking of getting one,  just know ahead of time you will waste a lot of vinyl while you are learning to use it and nothing hurts worse than to waste $20 worth of good vinyl on mistakes that have to be trashed.  That’s why I am using  contact paper.  I wasted a lot of vinyl on this project.  One time I forgot to turn off the setting for not having the mat and then I had to re-cut because it cut clear through the backing as well.  I can’t even recount how many times I messed up and had to trash my work.  It was getting frustrating.

Meanwhile, I glued the laun on top of the chipboard and I could not find my clamps anywhere.  Argggh…this makes me CLEARLY see the real value in having a dedicated workshop where everything is in one space.   I rigged it with masking tape by wrapping it around the table tightly to hold the top on and then put the heaviest things I could find on it to weigh it down. I let the boards stay weighted until the glue was dry. (24 hours)

 

I filled in the edges with wood glue before I went to work and sanded it down, along with taking the sharp edge off the corners when I came home.  I primed it AGAIN and painted it, this time with  Jekyll Club Cherokee Tan.

I only put one thin coat on.  I did not want it thick because I wanted a little of the primer to show through in streaks.  I thought that would be my extent of antiquing.  My primer is blueish gray.  I don’t have a photo.  Sorry.

When everything dried I started transferring my design.  It was hard, and now I am realizing it is because of the thinness of the vinyl.  I need a little thicker vinyl because I think Contact paper is a tad bit too thin and it is stretching and pissing me off.  I decided against the border.  That would take me a year to transfer.  So I pieced together the round design  and salvaged pieces from my mess-ups and threw it all on that baby and said a hail Mary.

I actually liked the way it looked like this and wished I could put some poly on it and be done but I had a lot of lifts in the vinyl so I had to continue with the original plan of making this a reverse stencil

I put a clear coat of poly on top.  They say it helps with the bleeding.  I used a razor to cut the lifts to try and make them lay down better, and then put on a coat of Valspar Antique Burgundy, one of the colors suggested by my Valspar Color Consultant…

and I started freaking out.  This is GRAPE.

but as I am sitting here typing I look up at it and can see the wall with the table together… I like it.  LOL panic over…that’s why I can’t pick out my own colors, cause I don’t know jack about it.  I took a nap while I waited for coat one to dry.  There are so many coats of paint on this table that it is going to take at least a week to cure.

While the second coat was wet I started taking off my vinyl.  Reveal time.  I was shaking and praying.  As I feared I had not only some bleed through but also some of the paint came up revealing the primer.  I think it was because there were so many layers of uncured paint so I guess I am not surprised, although I am disappointed.  Lesson learned…let each coat of paint dry 24 hours before proceeding to the next coat.

I left it to dry.  here is the base with the vinyl on it and the top coat with the stencil removed, thus a reverse stencil

  

As the table dried it got darker and I was really starting to dig it… and the Jekyll Club Cherokee Tan started turning a greenish tan and it was looking good!!  I sanded down the paint where it was thick (from bleeding under the vinyl) and I used a small paint brush to color over the sanded parts and anywhere that needed it.  No muck ups were left.

 

I put a coat of poly on it and it looks pretty good.  I love the color combo as well!!  Thank you to my color consultant for the help in picking out the Antique Burgundy!!

Even though I was winging it on the design I think it came out better than what I originally planned.

I was not liking the edge at all.  I thought I could sand the edges smooth but because it is chipboard I could not get it perfectly smooth (another reason I should have just gotten the oak board!!).    The finished product will be in part two…

 

What I have left to do in the bedroom:

• Part two of this table
• The vanity
• Painting the dresser and end tables

What room in your house are you working on first in 2015?