Do-It-Yourself Furniture

When I first moved into my condo, there was so much I needed to buy...from pots and pans to toilet paper. Needless to say, I didn't have much money to spend on furniture. I was lucky enough to get some furniture from my parents that they didn't have a use for anymore. However, the one thing I absolutely needed and didn't have was a coffee table. Now...I'm very picky as you may already know. I searched every website and store possible for the perfect coffee table. I wanted it to be wooden, off-white, with drawers for storage, and also a decent size. The only ones that came close to this were in the $1,000 range at Ethan Allen and Pottery Barn. This is one of those times where I needed to use my brain to create what I wanted.

My father is an avid garage sale maniac, some may even call him a dumpster diver (seriously, he was caught going through Restoration Hardware's trash when they went out of business). Anyways, I asked him to keep a look out for a cheap wooden coffee table that I could paint and spruce up. He ended up finding one on the side of the road that someone was getting rid of. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of what it first looked like; but believe me, it was hideous. The best before picture I have is after sanding, sans the drawers.

If you take a look in the bottom right handle corner, you can see the old knobs. Anyways, after a couple of bucks on sandpaper, wood-filler, primer, paint, varnish and new knobs from Amazon, the table is exactly what I was looking for.

In all, it probably cost me about $40. I chose a Martha Stewart paint color but had Home Depot mix the color using their own brand, which saved me some money. At first, I went without the varnish but quickly realized it was necessary to prevent things from sticking to the table top, causing nicks and stains. Another tip would be to steer clear of high gloss paint or varnish, because it definitely ruins the look. Rather, choose a satin finish. I like to balance my do-it-myself home projects with several store bought objects. I bought the candles, throw and pillows at Crate & Barrel, all on sale of course.