Trash to treasure: end table makeover

I love this trash to treasure concept because it creates a beautiful cycle of people getting to purge themselves from their own cutter or things they don't need, while others can transform, reuse, or re-purpose those same items to create something beautiful and fill a need in their own space.

I apologize for only having an "after" shot of this project. While I was putting on the final polyurethane for this project, my toddler snatched my phone after watching me take pictures of the project. He then continued to enjoy taking his own photos, which I didn't bother to stop because I was mid-project and didn't think he was hurting anything. I was absolutely wrong. Next thing I knew, my phone was swimming in the toilet! My photos had not backed up to the cloud, and with the phone destroyed, so were all of the "before" photos. 😨!!!

I have had this on my mind for a while...that I would love I nice little side table to go right there. My husband wasn't convinced, and it wasn't a priority purchase, so the idea continued to be put off. Then just last week I was on my way home from dropping my son off at a birthday party and I spotted this little guy along the side of the road. (Along with a little stool, which will be another Trash to Treasure post.)  It is actually a kiddie table- hence the little stool seat that went with it. I already have a kid's table to I almost passed it up. Then my mind started thinking of the end table I've been wanting so I quickly turned the car around to grab the table (and the stool too). I figured it couldn't hurt. If I got it home and it didn't work, then it could just as easily be dumped at my curb to be passed on to someone who could use it. But, lucky for me, it filled the space nicely and I decided to give it a finishing touch.

I didn't do much to this project. The table was already white, which is the color I wanted. The table top had a few stains on top, but nothing too severe- easily covered by a coat or two of paint.
I did to a quick sanding over the top to smooth things out and to help the paint adhere to the surface.
I also used a chalk paint mix which adheres to surfaces really well in the first place. The surface area isn't too big so I was able to use paints I had on hand to create a nice color I wanted.

I wanted the table white, but not too white....definitely subdued from the blinding white of "simply white" chalk paint. I added my sued acrylic paint to the mix until it resembled the color I was looking for. (approximately 3 Tbl of Suede for a 1/2 cup of Simply White)

The table took two coats of paint to cover completely. Once it was dry, I used my block sander to lightly brush over the top. This smooths out any unevenness in the paint coats and lessens the emphasis of the brush strokes. After wiping the table clean with a dry cloth, I applied 2 coats of my satin finish polyurethane to protect the top.

As for the final touch, when everything was dry I added my own felt feet to the table. You could use the sticky back felt pads you can buy at the store, but I used some scraps of felt I already had to protect my wood flooring.

Simply cut a piece of felt to perfectly fit the foot of each table leg and glue into place using my favorite, E6000 glue.
Considering I only used things I had on hand, and the table itself came off the side of the road, this trash to treasure project, was FREE, and I finally have a beautiful end table to enjoy!
Once he saw the finished project, my husband surprisingly admitted that he really loved the look of the table right there and thought it made a big difference in the room.