Quick Table Re-Do

One of my major recent projects involved rearranging my house to accommodate a new giant crate for this girl. With a huge crate taking over my small dining room space, I was left with an empty corner and awkward space.

why hello ginormous crate. thanks for coming in and taking over everything

oh no, I didn't want a dining room there. go ahead, it's all yours.

I decided to re-purpose the space and add a new seating area. I wanted to find a chair and a small side table that I could refinish to add some character to the room. The problem? I wanted to do it all before my parents came to visit... which gave me approximately two weeks to find a chair and a table on the cheap, refinish them, and re-decorate the space. No biggie, right?

Enter thrift store marathon. I literally visited every thrift store within a 20 mile radius multiple times, and I had Craigslist on lock-down. It was rare if I went more than a few hours without checking for a table or a chair online, each under $20. (thank you, Craigslist for iPhone!)

Well, luck was on my side. After a few stops, I found this beauty for only $4 at a thrift store!

She wasn't all that pretty, and she definitely needed to freshen up, but I knew that a quick coat of paint would do the trick!

And Ta-Da! It did! I sanded her down and coated her with two coats of spray paint, and she was done.

I am not a professional re-finisher (as I will prove when I show my chair re-do) so I know I didn't do this the correct way. I should have primed it first, and I probably should have done a clear coat or seal too. But I like to live on the edge. And by edge, I mean the edge of laziness mixed with "is this really necessary?"

But she still looks great. I paired her up with my new found chair (story on that coming soon) and we were set to impress.

Look- she even made a happy home for Mr. Armadillo! Don't they go so well together?

A happy table, a happy armadillo, and a happy awkward corner. Perfecto.

p.s. more pictures of the before and after space to come...

My friend the armadillo

While catching up on some Young House Love, I was inspired by Sherry's post on faking ceramic animals. She loves collecting white ceramic animals (awesome) but she shared a secret-- they're not all real ceramic! Oh, the power of white spray paint!

She took this $1.99 frog from goodwill:

and made it this!

(pictures from Young House Love)

Genius, right? In one of those "why didn't I think of that?" kind of ways. So ever since I saw that post, I have been on the search for a cool ceramic animal that I can spray paint and add to my own home decor.

That's when I came across this little gem:

A horribly ugly brown/yellow/gold armadillo! Every Texas home needs an armadillo, right? Right. So I bought it. I'm pretty sure it was also right around the $1.99 range. So away he came, to a yard and some spray paint! Look at him, just ready to be made over!
I decided to go with Rust-oleum Gloss Pure White spray paint. It said it was good for all surfaces, so I figured it would work well on the ceramic surface.
After several coats on the top and bottom, the little guy was completely covered, and completely transformed!
Unfortunately, after the first coat of paint, I noticed a crack along his back that had previously been disguised by the hideous color pattern. This was pretty easily fixed with another coat of paint, as it filled in fairly nicely. Plus, it's on the back, so you don't notice it much at all (unless you're looking for it- which you all will now!)

But now that he's all happy white, he sits comfortably in his new home. And I'm in love. And my house feels a bit more classy Texas.

Hey, good lookin. What's cookin?