Coffee Table Flip

I have not done a furniture project in ages (assembling Ikea and used furniture for the kids rooms doesn’t count!) and am excited to show you how I updated our living room coffee table.

Okay, so technically this is kinda of a second flip, because I bought this coffee table off of OfferUp ages ago and the woman who I bought it from had flipped it after getting it at a second hand store. Anyways, long story short, I decided to redo this coffee table because the wear of 8ish years was really starting to show. Between toddler dance parties a top it, ice cream movie nights, and fierce card games, this thing has stayed strong and sturdy which is fantastic, but the paint was rapidly declining from “distressed” to IN distress.

The top was black and the legs were white and that black just showed every speck of dust and dirt. I didn’t really have a vision, but I knew I didn’t want to have to buy any supplies, and I needed it to be a project that I could get done quickly so that it wouldn’t distract from the busy schedule.

Husband has two huge sanders in his shop and naturally, C found it for me and plugged it in when I mentioned I wanted to start the project- he’s so helpful with tools! This sander… it is amazing. The whole coffee table was stripped in 20 minutes. I.am.a.FAN.

I really like natural wood, but that stripped color wasn’t quite right; it was just a tad pale. I thought of ways I could keep the natural look but darken it up a bit without spending any money on stain. Luckily, I have a bit of experience with natural dyes and oo lala, coffee to the rescue! I brewed up some strong black coffee and poured it all over the table and let it sit for about 30 minutes, then I rubbed it in really well and did it again.

I left the black paint in the lines you see there on the top and sides because I really liked the look. After the coffee throughly dried I got my wood burning pen and wrote our names on the top. Kinda spontaneous and fun. I don’t have any plans to get rid of the coffee table since it is one of our most solid pieces of furniture, so I thought, why not?
I got the wood burning pen years ago so that I could inscribe the year on a wood round from each of our Christmas tree trunks. They then become ornaments. It is a really special tradition.

I love the rustic feel and the imperfections of the sanding, I think it adds to the charm. However, it’s not all about charm, I need this table to last, so I sealed it with A’s help with two coats of clear wax. I was really pleased with how well the wax went on and how well it dried. It repels spills really well- yep, it was inside for two hours before it was unintentionally tested with a pouch of apple sauce.

I really hope it olds up well. I am happy it was such a quick and easy project.

Have a great weekend friends!