Doughbox Side Table Makeover

The second piece of furniture I worked on refinishing over the past few weeks was the doughbox inspired end table I got at a school rummage sale.

After removing the hinges and other hardware, I sanded the old chipping finish of the wood and wiped it down with a wet rag. 

I chose a blue-gray paint for this piece because I couldn't decide where I wanted to put it in my apartment. The gray will go nicely in either room. I wanted to try a lace stencil technique on the top of the piece, so I painted the top surface in a lighter blue color to be the base behind the stencil.

I picked up this lace panel from a thift store and was so excited to try it out. I taped it down and used  a foam paint roller to go over it with the main gray color. Unfortunately, it was not a success. The paint completely soaked through the lace and the fabric got stuck to the surface. I wound up having to scrape off what I could and resand the surface again. Very frustrating! Spray paint would have likely worked better.

My back up plan for if this didn't work was to use a stencil I had from a previous project. I repainted the top with gray paint and stenciled over it with the light blue paint.

I finished off the project with a clear glaze and reattached the hardware, which I had previously spray painted matte black. I'm really pleased with how it turned out!