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This past weekend I worked on an old accent table that my mom had picked up in Pennsylvania. I liked the lines of this table but it was definitely in rough shape. For this makeover, I decided to whip up some homemade chalk paint and then stencil a chevron pattern on top. I then distressed the table and waxed it.

Although chalk paint allows you to skip the whole sanding phase, I decided to sand this table down anyway since it had so many nicks and I wanted to smooth it out a bit. By the way, this was probably my favorite mixture of homemade chalk paint to date, and I owe it all to my sister-in-law, Ashley.

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

Chevron Accent Table with DIY Chalk Paint

I have noticed that my chalk paint wasn’t lasting as long as I wanted and would end up being a little lumpy. For those of you who don’t know how to make your own chalk paint, it’s super easy and way more cost effective than buying it. All you need is to mix 3 parts paint {latex, acrylic, craft, doesn’t really matter as long as it’s the color you want}, 1 part Plaster of Paris, and 1 part water. Turns out the secret ingredient I had been missing was scalding HOT water.

I had previously used warm water but this time, thanks to Ashley’s advice, I let the hot water run a couple of minutes before mixing it in and boy did that make a difference! Stirring up the mixture was easier than before and it gave me the thin, lump-free, batter I needed {and it’s still that way days later}. Since I wanted to create a custom color, I first mixed my paint color in a paint can and then mixed my paint, plaster and water in an old spaghetti jar {thanks for the tip Ashley!}

Here are some before photos of the accent table:

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

Here is a photo of the table after being sanded down and cleaned with mineral spirits. I used 120 grit paper and then 220 grit.

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

Here is what it looked like after 2 coats of my DIY chalk paint.

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

 After 2 coats of chalk paint I then lightly sanded down and distressed the whole table with 120 grit sand paper. Then I taped off a border around the top and placed the chevron stencil in place. I added “cottage linen” paint for the chevron pattern and applied it with a stencil pouncer. I would dip the pouncer in the paint, then dab it on a paper towel so it wouldn’t have too much paint, and then dab it over the stencil.

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

I would wait a couple of minutes before moving the stencil along the table and continued doing this until the pattern was complete. After the stencil was dry I then sanded over it with 80 grit and then 220 grit sandpaper. Yeah I like to make furniture all new and pretty and then distress and weather them and make them look old again, it’s such a fun process. Once the sanding/distressing was done I waxed the table down and she was finished, yay!

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

Here is the before and after photo:

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

By the way, I actually wound up painting this table grey, and then re-painted it again with the navy/chevron at the request of someone that wanted to purchase it. Here it is the second time around, which I think turned out better than the 1st time:

A thrifted side table gets a makeover using navy DIY chalk paint and a chevron stencil! Chevron Accent Table with DIY chalk paint. UpcycledTreasures.com

12 Comments

  1. That table turned out great! Was it a “leather” top table? What did you do with the leather part? I have to end tables and the inserts are very worn… I wanted a solution to repair/renew the leather, but maybe just removing would be the best idea. Please let me know the details of your table. Thanks! Mary

    1. Thanks Graham! I did this project a while back and before I bought the mms wax, so I’m pretty sure it was the light minwax purchased from Lowes or Home Depot 🙂

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