ReStyle It - Children's Table

This week's ReStyle - a tea table for the girls.

We were given a plastic table with two chairs from SIL's now-defunked photography studio. She'd draped the chairs with fabric and used them as props.

I refer to these sets as bachelor smoker's tables. That's where I always see them - a $20 table and chair set on a college student's balcony with an overfull ash tray as decoration. 

While I appreciated that it was free, it wasn't exactly the whimsical fashion statement I was trying to make in the girls' room. So it become the next recipient of my repurposing craze. However, I loved the miniature size - perfect for their room and tea set.

Best part of this table - the top is covered in chalkboard paint. It provides an easily cleaned surface for the girls to practice coloring. When we don't have the chalk out, it's covered with a table cloth suited for tea parties. This table has become one of Gwenny's favorite items in the room.

You will need:

A clean plastic table and chairs (readily available at most garage sales and church rummage sales)

1 can plastic primer (in spray paint aisle)

2 cans spray paint in color of your choosing

Plastic gloves if you don't want to cover your hands in spray paint

Chalkboard paint

Sponge brush

1/2 yard or more of fabric (optional)

Step 1

Baby G playing between coats of paint -
It took a while to finish this project

Spray the entire surface of the table and chairs with plastic primer according to the manufacturer's instructions. Don't skip this step. You'll end up with flaky, peeling chairs - never cute.

Step 2

Spray entire surface of chairs with spray paint until color is even. It will probably take more than one pass to get in all the nooks and crannies.

Step 3

Place table on its top and spray paint everything but the top. With the table on its top, I didn't need to tape off anything and could still use two different paints.

Step 4

After spray paint has dried completely, flip table to upright position and paint the top with chalkboard paint using a sponge brush. Keep a wet rag handy in case of drips. One regret - I bought the paint for this several months ago before I heard of tintable chalkboard paint. Urgh... this would have made the project much prettier. 

Step 5

Soften the look with fabric. I didn't like the contrast of the black chalkboard paint with the avocado green, so I wanted to cover it when we weren't actually drawing on it. A table cloth that matched the curtain was an easy fix. My other thought was to upscale the look with cushions. Either is pretty simple:

Table cloth: Lay fabric centered on table. Determine how much drape you want on all sides, then cut the fabric giving a 1" seam allowance. Fold over 1/2" strip on all four sides and iron; then fold another 1/2" and iron. Use a straight stitch along the fold. Ta da - table cloth.

Cushions: The highly talented women at Sew, Mama Sew have a much better tutorial than I could pull together here. Just adjust the cushion size to fit the chair.

Step 6

Set up a tea party and spend an afternoon playing pretend. I have so much fun watching Gwenny learn to play. She loves to "cook" for me and watch me enjoy what she's prepared. So cute. 

I'm really proud of this project, not because it was any great crafty feat but because my raw materials were so bad to start with. Instead of dumping more plastic in a landfill, a little spray paint went a long way to create a fun piece of furniture the girls can enjoy for many years.