This humble little side table was given to us by Mum and Dad a couple of years ago. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but Mum and Dad use to be “in the trade” when I was a little girl growing up … that is to say, they ran an Antique and Collectables shop during the late 70’s and early 80’s. While they have moved onto other adventures, it seems that once the love of old stuff gets in your blood, it’s there for life. Which is great news for me … I am always a very grateful recipient of anything they have picked up and wish to pass on!

Here is the before photo. This little side table has got a few dings and scratches, and I know Dad replaced a missing finial … but of course this all adds to its charm. I like the look of dark natural wood, but I really felt this piece could do with a bit of a makeover.

I’m slowly working on decorating my living/dining room. I wanted this piece to complement another lovely side table I was given as a Mother’s Day present earlier this year.

I started by sanding the top of the round side table to remove the stain. What I found underneath, much to my delight, was a lovely pine top.

However, as you can see, sanding alone didn’t remove all the stain, so I used a paint stripper to remove the last of the original finish. Unlike my previous experience stripping my TV unit (see here), this time I kept the steelwool well away from the water … with fantastic results!

Of course I still needed to remove the last traces of paint stripper, only this time I used methylated spirits. Not only did I avoided the problem of oxidisation that I had experienced with the steel wool, but there’s always a risk water might soak into a piece and stain it (and water stains are hard to get out) or even worse … the water may warp the timber.

I gave the pedestal and legs a good coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) in Duck Egg Blue. Before painting with ASCP, I’ve been turning the tin upside-down for about one hour before hand. This has worked well to mix up the paint. For this project I only needed to applied one coat.

I allowed the table to dry for about 24 hours, and then sanded the pedestal with some mid-grade sandpaper (about 120 grade). This is the most heavily distressed look I have ever given a piece so far, but I love how it turned out. I left the top alla naturale and applied a coat of ASCP clear wax all over the top and pedestal.

Paul and I can’t decide if the top should be darker. But I quite like the light colour pine against the duck egg blue, I may apply a coat of ASCP dark wax in the future, but for now I’m leaving it as is.

I wanted to create some symmetry in the dining area. As this side table was little shorter that the square one, Paul added some little “antique” casters I found at Early Settler to create some more height.

I’m really pleased with how this little side table turned out. Now I just need to work on adding some pictures to the wall!

What tips to you have to add height to a piece of furniture?

For more inspiration, please visit my Pinterest board Table and Desk Makeover Ideas

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