GOODWILL COFFEE TABLE TRANSFORMATION

Hey there beautiful people! It has been such a lovely week! I had off work all week. You know when you just go, go, go and you are so used to going, so much so that you don't realize how badly you need rest? That is where I was at. This past week I did some work around the apartment but for the most part I laid in bed and worked on papers, but mostly laid in bed! It was so GLORIOUS! And now that the my week of rest is over, it is time to get back to work and the real world!

I wanted to share with you all a piece that I am so thrilled with in our living room; our new coffee table! If you look back at my earlier posts you will see how different our apartment looked. Like REALLY different. EMBARRASSINGLY different! My husband and I were actually just talking about that. I have said it over and over again, but I will say it AGAIN for any new readers to my blog....when we first got married 90 maybe even 95% of the stuff in our apartment was given to us by our families. From couches, to tables, to decor, etc there was not much that we picked out for ourselves. We were so grateful that we had people in our lives that wanted to make sure the starting off our lives was comfortable and GAVE us stuff so we didn't need to go out and spend a ton of money. Now that we are more established we are able to afford getting things that are OUR style. I still buy 90% of our stuff at thrift stores or antique malls but to us its "new". It makes me happy to walk into our apartment and see it decorated with things that are OURS.

Ok so now to what this post is actually about. For the longest time we had a farmhouse style coffee table. It was beautiful. I loved it. It served its purpose BUT it was not our style. (It is possible to love things but not want it for yourself). It was something my in-laws gave me when I moved into my first place during college (THANK YOU!!).  I refurbished it and for years it served its purpose and was wonderful. But I ended up selling it. It's actually my first sale listed on the SHOP page of my site! 

So with that table gone, we had no coffee table for about a month. Our style is very eclectic with a bit of boho flare in there so I wanted to get something that was glass. I wanted it to serve the purpose of a coffee table but did not want it to be a big bulky piece that took away from other pieces in our family room. I wanted to show off our rug that I adore and our last coffee table didn't do that. So I saw this Maurice Coffee Table  that was perfect BUT it retailed for $765....$530 on sale. That was no where near what I was willing to pay for a coffee table!

the Maurice Coffee Table I originally saw. Pretty right?!

 So I held off on getting one because I KNEW I would find the perfect one for the perfect price...eventually! There were certainly times where I saw one that I wasn't thrilled about but I knew we needed one and was tempted to get it but I just couldn't be wasteful and buy something unless I KNEW that I KNEW it was something I loved!

So this past week I went to Habitat Restore. Keeping an open mind, knowing that there was a good chance I would not find something I would like. But then I turned the corner and saw coffee table after coffee table fill this row!! I knew there had to be something in there that I would like. BOOM I see this glass coffee table and my eyes lit up! Not to mention it was only $60, um STEAL!

This is what it looked like when I bought it. It was an "interesting" green color with specks of black within it. It almost looked like a faux marble....not the prettiest thing. I thought about painting the base a matte black but my original idea was gold to match our nesting table set and our gold side table by our ghost chair. 

Gold won!

I have a few friends who never used spray paint to paint furniture. And I am hear to tell y'all that it is AMAZING! Seriously I have painted nearly everything with spray paint. It gives an even coat of paint to the object you are painting, it doesn't leave brush marks, and it is quick and easy! I have never been disappointed using spray paint. Especially not GOLD spray paint. I mean come on its gold, how could I ever be unhappy?!

after two coats of Rust'Oleum Gold Metallic spray paint this is what it looked like! Rango is sniffing it to see if he approves! And no, I didn't spray it inside I just wanted to be safe and not take a chance of any paint getting on our rug!

I let it dry for a few hours and then removed the paper towels from the legs and TADA!!

gold was the way to go!!

I am so happy with the glass top because you can still see our beautiful rug.

and just because it is beautiful doesn't mean it isn't everyday functional! We still throw our feet up on it, although that has always annoyed me a little bit with any table for some reason, I think I need a little ottoman

I am SO happy with this coffee table. I wish you could see me through the computer screen right now. God truly knew what I wanted and blessed me with something that is beyond what I imagined and I got to do what I love and paint it to really make it OURS! 

Don't be afraid to hold off on buying things until you are head of heels in love with it! And don't be above going to thrift stores and Goodwills and Habitat for Humanity and wherever else that isn't a name brand store. You are guaranteed to find a treasure at those fun shops and a treasure with a friendly price tag! It may not be the color you envisioned but thats the beauty of IMAGINATION and PAINT!

*My next post will be on how to properly decorate a coffee table so it not only looks beautiful but it is also functional! STAY TUNED*

happy decorating

COFFEE TABLE RE-DO & RUG REVEAL

If you have been to our apartment or have been following my blog and/or Facebook, you have come to realize I love quirky, loud, funky, eclectic items. Our apartment is as I like to call it, "eclectic chic". From bright colored velvet retro chairs, to gum ball machines ..we have a little bit of everything in our apartment.

However something that we did not have, but I have been searching for, for far too long was a Turkish style area rug for our living room. I have had an obsession with these styled rugs for a long time now. I mean just look at these gorgeous creations sent from heaven above ...

(they add the perfect Bohemian flare in this little ones nursery)

 (I swear I am drooling on my computer screen right now! That pattern. Those colors. Amaze balls!)

(In this neutral living room, it adds the perfect amount of color. It is strikingly beautiful but not obnoxiously loud)

You are obsessed now too, huh? It's ok, it is completely understandable. If you weren't slightly obsessed I would have to check your pulse to see if you were alive. 

So I searched, searched, searched. Mostly on sites such as craigslist or a page I follow on Facebook that is a community based page where people will sell things (mostly home goods) for a discounted price. But I had no luck. And I just wouldn't pay full priced for one because most of them have a starting price of $1,000 and "you see the way my bank account is set up" *side note* if you don't know what that quote is from you HAVE TO check out Kevin Hart's Stand Up Skit, it's HYSTERICAL!

Ok, so back to how darn expensive these sexy rugs are. Some can range up to$12,000! Disgusting, I know. So I do what I always do when I want things for cheaper, I go to Amazon. I typed in "Turkish Style Rug" and BOOM up pops a company that makes rugs for the CHEAP. And when I say cheap I mean cheap. Take a look at what I'm talking about HERE...and maybe in the process order one for yourself hehe.

I looked through a bunch of different options, and I found two that I liked and let my husband pick between those two. He did good, y'all!! Just look....

I love the way it looks with our new black wall!!

And our bright green and teal chairs. AHHH I am in love!

I am thrilled with it. And I must say, the price did not match the quality of this rug. I was shocked! It is extremely well made, it flattened out fast, and was true to color and size.....I'm still wondering why on earth I ever bought from any other company.

Because this rug is fabulous as can be but also very busy I had to re-do our coffee table. If you have been following my blog you know our coffee table use to look like this...

I painted it and then tufted the top with this retro printed fabric I found at Wal-Mart. It was great for the time being but with our new rug I didn't want the patterns to clash so I opted for something a lot more simple and rustic.

I originally wanted to take the entire top off the table but this thing was built like a fortress so I had to think of another plan. So I ended up taking the tufting off the table top, which took me FOREVERRRRR but whatevs, I got the job done. Then the next day I went to our local hardware store to pick up some 1x4 pieces of untreated wood and had the gentleman there cut it into 7 46" pieces. I also bought some PL Premium Polyurethane Adhesive. I put some of the adhesive on the tabletop and then placed the wood pieces on top of the adhesive. This adhesive is the BOMB DOT COM....however you want to use it on surfaces that aren't painted or treated and the table top of our coffee table had paint on it, so just for extra security I used 3" finishing nails cause they are thin and have a small head, and hammered a few into the wood. Those bad boy's aren't going anywhere AYEEE!

This is what it looked like once the wood was attached to the top. I ended up hitting the wood with a hammer in some places to give it a more distressed/worn look once the stain went on.

Next came the staining! I had a few different stain colors in my stash of paint and stains so I ended up using my favorite, Rust-Oleum's Antique Walnut.

I think that the best way to stain is to rub the stain into the wood and not brush it onto the top of the wood. I used this same stain on some shelves but I painted the stain on the shelves and it gave a painted look rather than a natural look which you will get when you rub the stain in. I took an old t-shirt of mine and cut a piece off, made sure to wear gloves cause getting stain off skin is a pain in the booty, and rubbed only one layer onto the wood. I could have done more but I liked the contrast of the light wood and the bright colored rug.

adorable, right?!

Voila' a new and beautiful coffee table!!

Do you have a coffee table that could use a little face-lift? Give it a try and tag me your re-do pictures on INSTAGRAM @rebelydecor, I would LOVE to see!

happy decorating