domicile 37: mersman diy

Thrifty Thursdays: DIY Tiered Side Table

April 17, 2014

A while ago I picked up this bad boy of a side table, it had great bones and was structurally sound..let me say, I knew exactly what ...

April 17, 2014

A while ago I picked up this bad boy of a side table, it had great bones and was structurally sound..let me say, I knew exactly what I wanted to do to this piece. Before I say more, let me state, this piece was definitely well loved in its former life....scratches and all. See below:

To accomplish the look I was going first, I had to remove the leather inlays on each tier. This was something I thought would be difficult to do, but was fairly simple...all I needed was an exacto knife and my own muscle. LoL!

Unfortunately, I failed to record my DIY process, but the steps are like any other furniture painting diy...clean it, sand it (if you want to), prime it, paint it, seal it. Easy peasy pudding and pie...that simple. Note: I say to sand it if you want because I don't really ever sand anything, I just use Zinsser primer which is a primer that can be used without sanding and it bonds very well to whatever surface.

Hold up...I almost forgot that I distressed this piece and I did sand the areas that I wanted to show signs of wear and I sanded after I painted it. You can beat a piece of furniture with a chain to show random knick marks or make some faux worm holes using a nail and a hammer, but that was not the look I was going for. I just wanted a standard simple distressed look.

Now, how was I able to find mirrors the size I was looking for? I went to Lowes bought some glass pieces and had them cut the glass to the exact size I wanted. You can use glass from a picture frame and you can cut it yourself, but I did not gave extra glass laying around...I DO have a glass cutter though. The two pieces of glass cost me around $5....not too shabby, eh?
After I purchased my glass, I went to my local Walmart and purchase Krylon's Looking Glass spray paint. To give it the antique look I was going for I wet a kitchen towel with water and then poured some vinegar on it (I did NOT have an empty spray bottle on hand). Then I dabbed the towel on the glass and went to town with the spray paint.

The mirrors are my absolute favorite part of this piece, I feel as though it gives it character and turns up the charm on the table and differentiates it from just being another distressed piece.