Trash to Treasure: Turn an Ashtray in to a Side Table!

4 Materials
$50
1 Week
Medium

Learn how to turn an old metal ashtray into a beautiful side table with just a few coats of spray paint and a glass table top!

We love a good flea market find - and this might be our favorite/ most practical yet! We found this old metal ashtray for $5 and it sat in our garage for a looooooong time. In fact, it went from our garage in Washington State to our garage in Kentucky before we found a use for it - as a side table in our guest room!

To begin transforming our ashtray into a side table, we first removed the lid and hosed off the body of the ashtray to remove the dirt and dust.


Once the ashtray was completely cleaned and dried, when then moved on to painting.


Note - if you find something with lots of rust give it a quick sanding before you start the painting process.

To paint our ashtray, we applied two coats of Rust-oleum Universal in Satin Nickel.


If you have never tried Rust-oleum Universal before, it is pretty darn amazing! That is because there is no priming and the paint goes on thick, smooth and easy. For these types of project makeovers, Rust-oleum Universal is perfect since it saves you steps in the painting process and comes in a variety of colors and finishes.

Our last (and hardest) step was finding the glass top! We ended up buying ours on Amazon, but they are also available at Walmart and a variety of other retailers in a bunch of sizes so you can find exactly what you need for your project.


Once you have found a glass top, adhere it to your ashtray with clear Gorilla Glue.

And voila! With a few coats of spray paint and a glass table top, you can turn an old metal ashtray into something beautiful for your home!


To get more project inspiration for your home and to learn more about the products used in this project, stop by my blog!

Suggested materials:
  • Ashtray
  • Rust-oleum Universal
  • Glass table top
See all materials
Beth Kingston
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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