Red Desk to Green Side Table

Last fall, I acquired this “hand-me-down” desk from my sweet sister-in-law.  I honestly didn’t care for the style of the desk too much–all I could see when I looked at it were the legs.  Because it was free, I took no issue with tearing the desk apart, stealing the legs, and using them to make something I now love.  It’s now my favorite “furniture fixer upper” to date.

The process of tearing it apart was actually quite fun and therapeutic.  Kind of like demo day at our flip houses, but on a much smaller scale.

Because I didn’t quite have a vision for my legs right at first, they sat in the garage for many, many months.

Near the end of our most recent home renovation, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the legs.  They would become part of a six foot long side table that would stage the Connector House.  This post contains affiliate links.

The legs sat in this spot for a painful amount of time…

Until one happy summer day…

Four new boards were added to the legs to make a frame for the table top.  I filled the nail holes with wood filler, sanded the table base, and wiped it all down in preparation for paint.  I used a liquid deglosser on the base to help the new paint adhere better to the already painted legs, painted two coats of La Fonda Plaza Green by Valspar (with adequate drying time in between), and then finished it off with two coats of polycrylic.  I can’t recommend this finish coat enough.  It dries clear, cleans up with water, and gives a beautiful smooth finish.

For the top we used pine, and after I sanded it down, I mixed one part of dark walnut stain with two parts of classic gray, and stained the top.  Once dry, I again applied a few coats of polycrylic.

I made the “They broke bread” sign with my Silhouette Cameo.  The words are painted on a 1/4″ piece of plywood and framed out in a simple 1″x1″ pine frame.

I hope this post inspires you to look at your furniture in a different way…to see that with a few simple changes, you can make something you absolutely love out of something you currently don’t.

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Thanks for reading!

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!  I am clearing stuff out of our current home renovation–and this “They broke bread…” sign needs to find a new home.  Do you want it?  Simply leave a comment saying, “I want it” on this post (not on Facebook because I can’t see all of those comments).  The only catch is you must be willing to pick the sign up in Fredericktown, Ohio because I don’t want to ship this one (it’s huge 57.5″x 31.5″).  Thanks for reading!

****UPDATE**** Joy won the painting.  Thanks to everyone who played!