Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

07 July

I don't usually pay much attention to the furniture that Goodwill puts outside to sell, it's not usually anything I am interested in. But my daughter and I went there a couple of weeks ago and I saw an interesting-looking little square thing sitting out there.


As I got closer I realized it was a coffee table... closer still and I realized it was mid-century modern style... and once I got up real close and personal I realized it has storage inside, bonus!! 😃


But, no price... usually that means someone has taken the price ticket off of it and is carrying it around with them because they want to buy it. I went inside and asked about it, they paged, "will the customer who has the tag for the square coffee table outside please come to the front?"


No one came... then the store employees got busy and forgot about me so I tracked another one of them down and asked again. He went outside and looked at it and said $4.99.


Holy Crap! Trying not to act too excited, I told them I wanted it but the whole time we were inside shopping I was nervous that someone else would get it... but I told myself it wasn't very cute so I probably didn't need to worry. No one else would see the vision I had for it.


Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table


Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

This is called a floating coffee table because the base is a smaller square and painted black so it disappears and makes the table look like it's floating!


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These are the supplies I used for this upcycle:


Here are a few before pictures... it's not very cute huh? It had a weird splatter technique finish on it that was making it look very dated.


Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

And a cheap-looking vinyl piece glued to the top.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I wish it had a manufacturer's name on it but it only has these numbers.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I really love the parquet wood. It is just a veneer so I was very careful when I sanded it so I didn't sand right through the veneer, then I wiped it down to remove all the dust.


Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I painted the inside with some teal paint I had. I'm not really sure if this was meant to use for storage because there wasn't an easy way to get the lid off aside from turning it upside down! But I have a fix for that!


Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I chose to stain it "fruitwood" which is semi-transparent, so almost a clear stain. I think it brought out the parquet look beautifully!

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I was so happy with how this upcycle project was taking shape.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I used ebony stain for the base to make sure I still got that floating coffee table look.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Then I used Butcher's Bowling Alley Wax which is a clear paste wax to finish the whole table, minus the top.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Next, I turned my attention to the top. The vinyl was already peeling off and it didn't take much effort at all to remove it.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I had a box of peel and stick tiles leftover from the laundry room makeover (oooOOOhhh, I can't wait to share that laundry room with you!!) I thought they would be perfect to jazz up this little table!

If you are going to buy self-adhesive floor tiles for a project like this you'll probably only need one box (depending on the size of your tabletop) and they are very inexpensive (as little as $12 a box)!

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I needed four of them to create the correct pattern and that was a little bit too big for the tabletop so I had to trim around the edges.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

To do this, I found and marked the center of the tabletop and then put the points of my four tiles together at that center mark, and then flipped it all over in order to trim.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I used a utility knife and just scored the tiles along the edge of the tabletop.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Once they were scored with the knife, I flipped the whole thing back over. These tiles will just snap on that score-line when you bend them. So easy!!

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Once all sides were trimmed I used the utility knife along the edges to smooth the edges.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Since I am planning to use this as storage as well, I needed a way to easily get the top off to access the space inside. I used a hole saw bit on my drill to add a finger hole to be able to easily open it.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

It went through it like butta!!😁

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I squealed a little bit when it all came together!

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

It's great for blankets!

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

I'm so happy with how this table turned out! I look around my house and I really love the collected look and seeing all my DIY projects, thrifted finds, and vintage items come together to showcase my style.

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

This just goes to show how a dated piece can be brought back and made current again with a little DIY elbow grease!

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Upcycled Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table

Posted by: at 07 July Tag:

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  1. That turned out great! And who can't use a little extra storage space?!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Who would have thought $4.99 could look so great? I love that you just stained the parquet and the wax really finishes the look. Once again, great job!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know! I just liked the parquet look but really didn't know how it would turn out. I love the results tho!

      Delete
  3. Ooooh, I love MCM furniture. Sweet save, Tania, and can't beat that price. Those pretty tiles couldn't be more perfect for this piece and I love the pop of teal inside. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  4. What a fabulous transformation! I LOVE what you did with this table. It goes so well with the vibe in your living room. Pinning! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm, xo Kathleen

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's just awesome! I'll be featuring you this week when the next To Grandma's house we go party starts!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Brilliant upcycle, Tania!
    I’d love for you to join us over at the Creative Crafts Linky Party every Wednesday through Sunday
    https://creativelybeth.com/creative-crafts-linky-party-50/
    Followed and Pinned! 🙂
    Creatively, Beth

    ReplyDelete

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