Furniture Flip: Gilded Side Tables

You really can’t beat the romance of a French Provincial piece of furniture: I love the cabriolet legs, the ornate pulls, the curves.  And what better way to amp up the romance than with a metallic gold finish?

Gold has gotten a bad rap in the past, but it’s coming around in dramatically beautiful interiors everywhere, and I have to say, I’m so smitten with this trend.

My first step was to strip the table tops.  With grain like this I knew I could not cover it up with paint, so my go-to Dark Walnut stain it was.

Whenever it’s possible and practical, I prefer to do my stripping with the orbital sander, first using a 80 grit to strip the finish, then following with a 220 grit to smooth it out like butter.  However, the curved, routered edges don’t lend themselves to stripping this way, so I came back after the flat table top had been stripped and used Citristrip around the edges to get down to the bare wood.

Now it was time to prime and paint the table bodies, but you don’t want to get any paint on your newly stripped table tops.  So here’s a tip, turn your piece over, top down on your drop cloth, then go around the edges and tape it down to the drop cloth so no paint gets on your table top.  (I do this all the time with any piece I want to keep a wood top on, and it works like a champ!)

I primed these with a dark red/brown spray primer from Rustoleum.

Another handy painting tip for you: When you’re painting drawers and don’t want to paint out the insides, use an old t-shirt and slide the drawer inside to protect it from the paint when you’re spraying it. (This obviously won’t work with every size drawer, but old cotton t-shirts are stretchy, so it will work with most.)

Now it was time to bring the glam with my very favorite metallic paint, Bright Coat Metallic Finish Spray Paint from Rustoleum.  These are a true, bright, shiny metallic finish, and with a spray application, you won’t see brush strokes that you will certainly get from brushed on metallic finishes.  I’ve tried out many of the different spray paint metallics, and though I’m usually a Krylon girl, the Bright Coat Metallic Finishes get my vote.

Those gorgeous tops got the Minwax Dark Walnut treatment, followed up with my very favorite, newly discovered finish for wood, Tung Oil.  If you haven’t tried Tung Oil, I highly recommend it.  It’s an absolutely gorgeous glossy top coat that’s easy and forgiving to do, SUPER durable, food safe (great for dining tables) and heat resistant (great also for wood kitchen counters.)  The only down side is you have to have patience, because you have to allow 24 hours between coats, and it needs 3-5  coats.  But the end result is SO worth it, and you will never have to refinish them again.

Just brush the Tung Oil (I used Minwax) on the wood with a disposable foam brush (or else you’ll need mineral spirits to clean up, and why bother.)  Wait a day and do it again.  Repeat the process until you have a nice, smooth, glossy finish with no dull spots.

Now THAT is a beautiful table top!  And that little metal inlaid border was bonus I found when I stripped the tops.  My fortunes aligned!

This duo would be stunning as side tables or nightstands of course, but would also be fantastic side by side functioning as a coffee table, don’t you think?

I don’t know about where you are, but in Arizona, it is HAWT!!  And I mean I no longer care if it’s a dry heat, I’m pretty miserable.  It gets just about to the point of no longer being able to bear it when the monsoons start, which is super fantastic for the crispy landscape but not so good for furniture painting prospects, so wish me luck!  I hope to get as many projects finished up before the rainy season as I can.

Hope your summer is going great!

from Twice Lovely 

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Ann Marie @ Twice Lovely

Latest posts by Ann Marie @ Twice Lovely (see all)

• The Lowdown on Milk Paint - July 12, 2012
• Furniture Flip: Gilded Side Tables - June 28, 2012
• Furniture Flip: Color Pop Surprise - June 14, 2012