Quilting is only one of my many hobbies – granted it’s my favorite. Every now and then I find a furniture piece that speaks to me at a garage sale or at a thrift store. Some pieces need a little bit of TLC; others a lot. If it has good bones, I’m known to drop the $20-$30 for it. It takes time to sand and paint, but, eventually, I have a furniture piece updated and painted artistically.

Now don’t get me wrong. When it comes to furniture, I am a minimalist. The more stuff you have, the more stuff you have to clean. I prefer to spend my time with my husband and son, quilting, painting, or running – not cleaning. 🙂 However, I do need things to paint and I’ve found that I like to bring new life into something old.

I was walking through one of the local thrift stores and I found this beat up and scratched end table. I could use an end table, since, I currently own 0 end tables. (Furniture Minimalist – Fabric Hog – at least I have my priorities straight 😉 ) I put my weight on it and wiggle it – it feels nice and solid – sold. I said good bye to my $20-ish and went home with an old end table.

Two of the center panels in the door needed to be replaced and asked my husband to cut 2 rectangles of replacement wood. I’m not staining it, so, it didn’t matter what kind of wood – just not particle board. I sanded it and applied a base coat (ignore my tea cup in the picture – it’s usually glued to one of my hands). I painted the top (my son helped).

Then I grabbed a pencil and free handed a quadrant of a design. I used some tracing paper to help repeat the design in the remaining 3 quadrants and grabbed my paints. Don’t ask me how I come up with a design – I just draw to fill a space.

A couple of coats of sealer and a trip to Home Depot helped to upgrade the hardware and I declare this project complete. I enjoy completed projects. (And so does my husband – mostly because it means more space for him in the garage.)