Ikea Coffee Table Facelift for Less Than $15

Gabi Ralea
by Gabi Ralea
2 Materials
$15
1 Day
Medium
The black Lack coffee table that I've bough from Ikea a while ago had some ugly stains that I could not remove.
I put my creativity to work, bought some paint and varnish, and a few hours later here's what I got! A piece of art with a very personal touch!
Drawing a contour is the first thing to do. Using a white wax crayon, I drew the arabesque so it would cover the ugly white stains that I wanted to hide. (The wax from the crayon prevents the acrylic paint from stepping out of contour.)
Second, you have to fill in the contours with color. I used metallic acrylic paint in 3 different colors - blue grey, gold, and champagne.
10 minutes after applying the first coat of paint, which dried really quickly, here comes the second one.
You'll see the color changing when the paint is drying, and the result might surprise you. :) When using metallic paint, the final result would look hammered if you apply the paint in short moves.
To cover the whole table with patterns, you need to start painting from the center to the margins, otherwise you would have to deal with an uncomfortable position that you'll have to keep for hours while working on the project.
A few hours later, clean the dust, and varnish the painted table to give it a polished look. Let the table dry for a few hours in a well ventilated place (beware of the flies or dust around it!), then apply a second coat of varnish.
Let it dry again and voila! Enjoy your brand new coffee table!
Suggested materials:
  • Metallic acrylic paint   (Lidl)
  • Varnish   (Hornbach)
Gabi Ralea
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 5 comments
Next