Antique Display Case Table Turned Modern

Hello Friends!! Hope you are all enjoying spring as much as I am. I’ve been outside gardening and painting my little heart out. I’m loving it!!! This past weeks gorgeous weather was perfect to take furniture projects outside to be sanded and painted. I found this sad display table at an estate sale a few weeks ago. No one wanted it!!! I can’t imagine why?!?!?!

I saw good bones and a modern future in its pathetic little life. So what to do first? Sand lightly and then clean off with a warm vinegar water. (I have been cleaning most of my furniture with vinegar water lately and it works like a charm. Cleans and deodorized at the same

I had a tough time figuring out what I wanted to do with this piece. So I defaulted to a good old navy blue color. I chose Behr paint in Night Shadow in flat and then I mixed in BB Frosch chalk powder to make my own chalk paint. (I love BB Frosch!!! Did I mention that before.)

But first I taped the edges around the glass. I normally don’t tape anything unless I am making a design however I DESPISE cleaning wax off glass and mirrored surfaces. (Since I know I will be using a protecting wax later on for this project, I took the time to tape the edges off).

I painted 2 thin coats of paint and then decided what to do about the bottom shelf while the paint dried. I knew I wanted something modern but something pretty simple. So I just started taping a design and this is what I came up with.

Super simple arrows. I painted them a white color I had sitting around (and of course I mixed BB Frosch chalk powder in it that too.) I did 2 coats of white and then pulled that taped off.

I then did the same thing to other side.

I pulled that tape off and with it came some of the blue paint. At first I was kind of ticked off that it ripped some of the paint up but then it grew on me and I ended up loving it. I decided to roll with the aged look.

I then brushed a thin layer of wax on the whole table with Annie Sloan Clear Soft wax. I rubbed it in with a clean soft cloth ( I used an old pillow case cut up into pieces.)

I then went to the bottom shelf where the arrow design was created and brushed on the some Annie Sloan Dark wax to keep going with that aged look that was accidentally created:)))

LOVE!!!

I also went in with a sanding sponge and roughed up the corners to let the wood underneath come through the paint. Why not!! Then I went over the whole piece again with a final coat of clear wax. Let that cure over night and buffed it to a nice shine.

I took the tape of to reveal the final product.

I decided to leave the inside of the display area as is. Why? It was in excellent condition and I thought it would take away from the rest of the piece if I added something too interesting in there.

I think it turned out beautifully especially for not knowing exactly what I wanted to with it and running into a few bumps in the road. The one thing I have learned when painting furniture is to roll with whatever happens. If your tape pulls your paint off, work with it and go with and aged look. If your color doesn’t turn out exactly as you hoped, mixed some other colors and textures in there for a whole new look. Otherwise, you will probably get super frustrated and stop working on it. I never let it get me discouraged. I just reconfigure my path to make it work for me.