So I just watched Cinderella and I freaking love that movie! How many of us need a fairy God Mother? I mean think about it, with the wave of a wand, you would have perfect hair, a sweet ride and best of all, a special pair of shoes that identify you. Of course, all that would fade at midnight, but it doesn't have to. Especially when the story is applied to this banged up Target table who underwent a Cinderella moment, to become a beautiful console with a brand new, real wood top.
Learn how to turn your mdf piece o'junk into a beautiful custom piece.
Materials
Base:
Table to Upcycle- Mdf will be a great choice for this project because the change will be dramatic!
Chalky Paint, I mixed a custom color for this project
Stain- I used Reclamation from Weatherwood
Topcoat, I used Miss Mustard Seed White Wax
Directions
1.] Prepare: I began by taking the top off of my Target console table. If this table was something you purchased from the store, you probably built it this same way you're going to take it apart now. To begin, flip the table upside down. You'll see fasteners that were used to keep the top on the table. There will be several of them. You want to loosen all of them and pull the table straight up, off of the top.
2.] Paint: Make sure the piece os free of dirt and dust. Next, you can use chalk paint or chalky paint to paint the table base. chalky finish paint is your best option for mdf. You can use traditional paints, but only specific primers will work on mdf and you would need to do two coats of primer and two coats of stain. The color I chose was a custom color I worked up specifically to play off the stripe in my grain sack ottoman.
3.] Construct: The next thing I worked on was to create a new top for my table. You have a few options for a new top.
-You could buy a few planks of wood and adhere them.
-You could go to a lumber yard for an extra wide piece of wood.
-You could purchase a premade top from a big box store- they come in various sizes. You can have the big box store make a cut or two if need be.
-Because I have access to a planer and tons of wood- I used scrap maple, wood glued it together, and then sent it through a planer to make it all the same height. This would be your most customizable and difficult option.
If you look at the above photo, I made the new top slightly smaller than the original. I thought I would look more modern not to have a 1" overhang over the entire table.
4.] Stain: You'll need to stain the wood. With the Reclamation stain, each wood species will turn a different color. I used hard maple intentionally, because I wanted this drift wood gray color. If you want to see how that works, check out this time lapse video, here. Maple changes from a very light blonde to a drift wood gray.
5.] Affix the New Top: Once the wood stain was dry (approx 20 minutes) I spread a powerful glue called E600 around the underside of the top, and around the base, wherever it will make contact. Next I used 12 inch clamps to attach the glued top to the table's base.
6.] Topcoat: I used Miss Mustard Seed White Wax to create the look of a patina to my drift wood gray maple top. Check out the above photo, where the white wax is applied to the wood top on the left side and the right is just stained wood.You can see how it looks like there's now a patina to the wood. You watch the directions for yourself in this video for how to apply.
Look how pretty the new colors work into the space. I am so happy with how the look came together. It feels so fresh and clean, perfect for spring. I was so tired of that fake brown wood. Hallelujah!
That was a super simple upcycle, with a major impact. You can't even tell it's the same piece. Look at the before and after. All the knicks and damaged portions of the table now look fresh and new. You could easily find another table like this one for wicked cheap and DIY your own version. The most complicated portion was be the new top, but if that's too hard, just buy a prefabricated one and you'll be all set.
