What would you do with this coffee table that I found?

you can buy glass from ACE Hardware for all 3 sections. Give them the dimensions & they will cut for you. its pretty reasonable. You could then paint the table & spray the glass with Mirror Effect for a mercury glass look.

Did not have to sand as much as you did unless you planned to stain. For painting just lightly sand to remove any gloss and create a tooth for paint. Prime with a stain blocking primer like Zinsser 123 then paint your color (s).

Click on a photo and go to the site.

Glass

https://www.google.com/search?q=missing+glass+on+coffee+table&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwia9bWww-rSAhUDTSYKHbN7B38QsAQIJQ&biw=1016&bih=642#imgrc=_

Painted

https://www.google.com/search?q=painted+cocktail+tables&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjD5pOtxOrSAhUKKyYKHYOIC00QsAQIuwE&biw=1016&bih=642

To me, this looks like the perfect table to stain, and then put middle eastern style tiles/mosacis in as the table top!

I did one almost like this. I painted it vintage cream distressed add french vintage fabric with a little thin foam . Ottoman /coffee table! depends on your decor in your house!

I have two thoughts on this -

Tile the top of it. I'd go to home improvement stores, tile stores, etc. and find something you love. You won't need many pieces, so it wouldn't be a huge expense. You'd then get a board cut to size and attach the tiles to it and grout to finish. You could choose tile colors that coordinate with the colors you currently have in your family room or wherever you'd be using this. Paint or stain the frame to a color of your choice.

Bench/Ottoman - I think this would make a great bench at the end of a bed. Again, paint or stain the actual table to whatever color you like and then find material that coordinates with your bedroom colors. You'd then get a board cut to size, purchase some foam and batting and attach to the board to the frame and top off with your perfect fabric on top. ( this would be my vote on how to transform this table)

Just a thought......if it suits your decor......tin inserts. You can turn this into an industrial look with metallic paint and tin inserts. It would be a unique piece.

Everyone has such wonderful ideas! This is my first time refinishing furniture so I didn't know I didn't have to sand so much or I would've saved the time! Hopefully this weekend I will find the time to go out and buy primer and paint so I can finish it next week. Any ideas how to paint all the details of the piece also without consuming so much time?

A lot of great ideas! Remember it was designed as a table and additional support may be needed if you make it a bench. It would be beautiful. I like your initial idea of chalk board tops. Paint it a light color , lightly distress with chalk Board tops and write something French on it. Embellish it as desired. Jay

RESTORE :: Re-Stain...buy & install glass inserts.

I've never painted one, but sounds like you got great ways of doing that already. My idea is to put a bottom under the glass leaving an inch of space or so between. Then display whatever you like, pictures, sand/shells, something you collect- a shadow box, if you will....enjoy😊

We have a very similar piece. I find the 3 piece glass top hard to keep clean, so I really like the idea of making tile inserts (although they may not lay flat/flush with the rest of the table top).

use pallet wood on the top and chalk paint on the bottom

This would make a cute bench. Cover the top with wood solid enough to sit on and put a cushion over that. You could bring out the details in the wood by painting/ staining and then dry brushing with a different color. Your cushion could bring out the colors as well.

If you want to keep it as a table, have some glass cut for it and then spray with with mirror paint on the reverse side (you will look through the glass to the mirror paint). Or just put a mirror over it.

You have so many options with this. I hope you post the final result.

We had this coffee table when I was growing up. It was stained wood with marble inserts. All you have to do is decide what style or look you want!

If you live nr. a good-sized city, there certainly must be glass dealers who will custom cut glass to fit this lovely table after you refinish it. Yrs. ago I had glass cut to fit my DR table, an old TV cabinet with doors from the '50s repurposed for storage in the DR, and both end tables in my BR. Didn't cost a mint either and saved the finish on all pieces of furniture. However, my son sat on the end of the DR table, and it died a slow death in that it wasn't even any more. Gave it to Salvation Army and brought out an antique dropleaf table I purchased at auction and had been storing; had table refinished and am using that now.

Have you seen that floor someone did with bottle tops? you could make something similar with a piece of hardboard and bottle tops. Attach the bottle tops to hardboard , seal the whole lot with clear varnish or silicone. Then either paint or stain the table piece?

I think it would great with boxes underneath , so you could display special items and if you don't seal the glass you could change it really to suit your season or theme.

Lancia

Lancia's suggest is a good one if you like the idea af displaying items. If you want a more industial look, I have had good luck using backer board (the cement based underlayment used under tile). It is inexpensive and looks like concrete afer sealing with an acrylic sealer. Because it is so cheap you can try it and still try something else if you don't like the look.

So this is what my table looks like now that it's been painted and distressed. I called the nearest Glass store we have around here and they quoted that the 19 1/4" x 12" glass would be $17.91 each and the 19 1/4" x 18" glass would be $21.92.

Since I can't keep the table as my house is too small for it, I'd like to go a cheaper route. Is tile cheaper than glass or about the same?

Have you thought about making (or having made) a shallow box to fit up under the top that can display a collection - whatever your style is - then have glass or plexiglass cut to fit in the openings. A little fabric tab can be inserted to make it easy to lift the glass to rearrange your display.

This isn't to scale, but will give you an idea how wood pallet boards could look on top of it. Take pallet boards (free around here) and attach them to the top and stain.

This isn't to scale, but you could attach pallet boards and stain. It would look awesome with white washed pallet boards.

I saw some Formica covered sink cut outs at the re store that looked like stone, marble etc.. They were cheap. Small pieces of Formica could be glued onto Masonite cut to the opening sizes. Have some left over laminate flooring pieces?

Get stain glass pieces from hobby lobby cut to fit or place over the tops with sticky spots. Orrrr darker inlays and use a feather to make it look like marble.... ?

I found one just like this in El Toro and my kids were old enough to play with Lego blocks. And I found out that you can buy the little sheets that u build on with the Lego blocks. They come in different colors to choose from. For the center of the table: You staple or nail (I stapled them) from the bottom of the table. So that the textured side of the Lego sheet is facing up. Then for either Side of the table: I used recycled bags from onions, apples, or potatoes and and from the bottom up staple the bag again the frame so that it sags and makes a bag so you can then store the pieces of lego's in. My kids loved it!