DIY Striped Black and White Marble Table

Michaell
by Michaell
12 Materials
$100
3 Days
Medium
When we moved to our new home, I knew I needed a conversation piece in the living room. However, most of the home decor we have are hand-me-downs. Let me just say, these hand-me-downs are gems in the making! We've turned every hand-me-down into a work of art with a story.
Photo from The Vanilla Plum.Enter hand-me-down exhibit A. This sun-bleached table that burned my eyes (it was that ugly) for about three months before I figured out what to do with it. And when I saw Kelly Wearstler’s Lineage Stool collection, I just knew this was the DIY project I’ve been looking for.
I actually considered whether it would be worth using my entire year’s decorating budget on the real deal and authentic marble, but I really wanted to make it. After all, when you have a slightly challenging art project, you want to do it on a piece of furniture you don’t really care about. That way, if it doesn’t work out, you gain experience and your loss is really your time more than money.
I looked at a lot of ways to achieve this project. A lot of people use spray paint or marble contact paper. I considered both of these options, but with the stripes, corners, etc., I thought it didn’t look quite as expensive as paint with an epoxy coating. Most people look at my table and don’t believe me when I say the table was painted because it really does look like a marble slab.Before you look at me and say a DIY Marble coffee table sounds really difficult, let me tell you, it does take patience, but it’s not hard. And, I love marble, so it was worth it! Just make sure you have someone to do this project with you, because it is a two-person job, mostly because you will be using epoxy. This project would make a great coffee table, side table, marble topped dining table, etc. It also would look great with hairpin legs if you want to change out the original table base.
  • Step 1: Find a scrapped table and sand that table down! If it has a coating, it may look like it’s peeling. That’s OK. Keep sanding till it’s all off.
  • Step 2: Take the table apart and secure any little pieces in one place.
  • Step 3: Paint Primer all the surfaces.
  • Step 4: Paint the white marble layer. Don’t worry about making it perfect since we will be doing stripes next! I watched a LOT of DIY videos and tried about three methods after trying a couple and not liking the look.


HOW TO CREATE THE WHITE MARBLE LAYER:
  1. Paint the entire table white. I did 2 coats and started the next step while the second coat was drying.
  2. While the second coat is still wet, mix your marbling grey colors. I put this on cardboard to act as a painter's palette.
  3. Mix white and black paint together to create a couple different tones of grey (1-3 color variations).
  4. With your darkest grey color, take the pointy tip of the feather and create "veins," or lines, of dark grey throughout the table. As you glide the point across, change your angle so you are dragging the feather, flipping the feather, and creating texture (not an exact science!).
  5. Dip your sea sponge in the lighter grey paint, and sponge over the darker grey veins to create color and texture variations. The goal is to have so much variation that it appears to be stone.
  6. Repeat until you're happy with the colors


Once the paint is completely dry (overnight or over 2 days depending how thick the paint is), sand until smooth and level.
Photo from The Vanilla Plum.
  • Step 5: Once the white marble layer is complete, measure your table and divide your stripes with painter’s tape. I got the widest tape I could find and measured from the center outward, then divided my stripes for even spacing.


Once your measuring is complete, lay down your painter's tape (so you have white marble showing through when you pull up the tape), then use your roller to paint the entire table in black paint.
  • Step 6: Once dry, splatter white paint in a Jackson Pollack style with your paint brush. I saturated my brush and "flicked" it all over the table until I was satisfied.
Photo from The Vanilla Plum.
  • Step 7: Wait for the table to dry, then peel the tape up, checking that it’s dry as you go. Lift slowly to prevent peeling.
  • Step 8: Coat the table with epoxy. DO NOT TRY THIS ALONE. This is the very messy, time sensitive part. You have to spread very quickly. I set a timer according to the instructions and watched a couple tutorials on best practices.


Some tips: If you have air bubbles, your warm breath on it will help get them out very easily (or use a blow dryer). Move quickly and do this with a partner.Divide and conquer!
Photo from The Vanilla Plum.
  • Step 9: Admire your work on this DIY marble table. I sure did.
Photo from The Vanilla Plum
Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Michaell
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  3 questions
  • Joanie Joanie on Jan 04, 2020

    I thought the marble look was MORE smeared? This looks streaky...........

  • Sally Alter Sally Alter on Jan 04, 2020

    If I read it right, you said paint the marble layer. How? You didn't say how to do it and that is the most important part of the table, surely.

  • April K. McNair April K. McNair on Jan 20, 2020

    Can this be done on a glass top? I have two glass top tables that have become an eyesore to me. The glass is quite thick.

Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 38 comments
Next