Side Table Makeover With A Fabric Covered Top and Epoxy Finish

2 Materials
$20
4 Hours
Medium
I recently tried something new! I have always wanted to learn how to apply an epoxy resin to the top of a table. A few months ago I was challenged along with several other bloggers to create a fabulous table top using epoxy and whatever creative material we could dream up. I already had this small side table in my basement just waiting for a fabulous makeover so I accepted the challenge and learned how to do something new at the same time.
My table was just a simple wood table with a few decorative details. It did have a nice round top though which was perfect to showcase a creative top and an epoxy finish.
After cleaning the wood, I applied several coats of chalk paint in a nice soft ivory color to the entire piece, including the top. I then sealed the paint on the legs and drawer front with PolyAcrylic in a Semigloss finish. The top finish on this table really needed to be a showstopper so I dug through my stash of fabric samples and selected a piece in ivory with a nice floral and vine design. I attached the fabric to the top of the table using Modge Podge.
Now came the tricky part, applying the epoxy resin finish. It was actually very easy to do, especially if you follow the directions exactly as the manufacturer suggests. Since I hadn't used a resin coating before I did have a bit of a learning curve when it came to how much to apply. At first I thought I hadn't mixed enough of the resin mixture to spread to all the edges of the table top so I quickly mixed a second batch and added it to the first.


Turns out that I had a bit too much resin coating and it started to pour off the top of the table, which is what it is needs to do to create smooth edges, but mine instead created a waterfall effect to the floor. Thank goodness for the plastic on the floor!


The kit I used also came with tools to wipe up the excess mixture on the sides of the piece and create the smooth edges I was looking for. I'm pretty sure I'm not the first person to use too much mixture the first time around.
It took a little time and patience as I allowed the resin to flow over the edges of the table while wiping off the excess underneath the edges with the brush provided in the kit. The epoxy took several days to dry and harden to a beautiful sheen. Another nice thing about working with epoxy is that once it has hardened, you can easily sand down any rough edges or drips that collected underneath the top edge.
In the end, the table came out exactly as I had planned. I left the drawer knob in the natural wood to accent with the browns in the fabric on the top. Now that I have learned more about how to work with an epoxy resin finish, I will be trying this technique again soon.
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Donna Powell
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