Found side table gets weekend facelift!

Sohrab and I spotted this little side table in a pile of things marked 'free' and thought it worth carting home.   Someone had painted it with a thick coat of very dark brownish red, and it was quite unpleasant to look at.   So last night, while the mister dove deep into the world of Diablo III, I resigned myself to a few hours of video game widowhood and set about giving this table a facelift.

Tools:
Screwdriver
Coarse sandpaper
Soft clean cloth
Paint
Paintbrush

 Steps:

1. Prepare a work area by taping garbage bags (cut open) to the floor,   I layered some newspaper over the bags in case of serious paint spillage.
2. Use the screwdriver to remove any hardware, in this case it was the drawer pull, a cheap plastic thing.
3. Using a coarse sandpaper (we had some stripping grade sandpaper left from our balcony makeover), go over the whole surface to give the paint something to adhere to.  You're not removing the paint, just roughing up the surface a bit.
4. Use a soft clean damp cloth to wipe off the dust from sanding.  Wait for it to dry, or give it a wipe with a dry clean cloth.
5. If you have primer, apply a coat and wait for it to dry according to instructions.  I didn't have any, but  didn''t mind an uneven painted finish in this case.
6. Apply first coat of paint.  I like to start in the middle of the surface and work outwards, to prevent paint from dripping off the sides.   Paint in the same direction as the grain of the wood if possible.
7. Wait as long as you can - ideally over night.  I only waited an hour.  Patience is not one of my virtues when it comes to projects that turn the Trove into a mess!
8. Apply second coat of paint.  Wait til dry.
9. Put in hardware - in this case, a simple but very heavy solid brass pull we'd scored the same morning.
10. Find the perfect space for it!

We're both very happy with our little table - it replaces the larger bar cart we had there before, and doesn't compete with the low profile of our couch.   I'm thinking I might pick up some dark gold metallic paint to give it some accents on the legs, but am willing to live with it a while longer before changing it.

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