I have had this little kids’ table and chair set forever:
My mom and dad got this for Annie at IKEA when she was just a toddler.
IKEA may cost next to nothing but this thing has been played with, drawn on, jumped off of, and eaten over for nine years and it is still going strong.
I painted it the red color you see here last year; it used to be white and when they purchased it; it was just the natural wood.
But I was getting kind of tired of the red, and I didn’t do a very thorough job painting it. I spray-painted it but didn’t sand it before doing so, the paint was coming off and since the kids use it (well not Annie anymore but Ellie and her friends) I didn’t feel comfortable with that.
So this time I took my time and painted it in steps:
First, I spray painted the chairs and the legs of the table Heirloom White. I used three coats, then I lacquered them to seal the paint.
Then I sanded the top of the table.
Originally, I wanted to make the top of the table look like planks of wood but in typical workin’ with what I got fashion, I ran out of brown spray paint midway through my vision.
But then I had another idea!
I already had the chalkboard paint.
So I painted the top with that.
Then I sanded it on top a little to look rustic/vintage…..this is very important when working with kids’ stuff because rustic/vintage is code for DAMAGED.
Which it will indeed become by next week, so who cares, right?
I sanded the edges to expose the old red color, which I love.
So then I got out these numbers, which I purchased last month.
I measured out the letters on the edge of the table.
Wow, see how evenly spaced they are??? Just kidding, I ended up having to improvise a little to make the tabletop look a little more balanced.
And here is the finished product.
Here it is with the black number tins I made last month.
Cost for me to make– N O T H I N G!
Cost for you to make-
1- paints– I used Heirloom White by Rustoleum and it usually runs around $3.50- $4.00 a can. The can of chalkboard paint (not spray) was around 9 dollars at Home Depot.
2- numbers– I got these last month at a local big box store for around 5 dollars back in the garage sale sign department (ours is right next to the spray paint area).
3- table and chair set– Ikea…not sure how much but definitely under 30 bucks and even though it was purchased almost 10 years ago, I know they still carry this same model but look outside the box a little- you can find the table and chair sets like these at garage sales, Goodwill even on Craigslist.
Total cost for you– around $18.00 for just materials under $50.00 for everything!
A Grace Full Life 
so cute!! It's always the best when you can do something for free!! Looks great!
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Thanks so much Kimberly!!
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It turned out so cute! Love it! Stopping by from Frugal Friday linky party.
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Thanks Carrie! 🙂
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I am in love with this! you did such a great job! I would love it if you would share this and/or any other projects you have been up to at Tuesday Talent Show at Chef In Training Tomorrow! Plus there is going to be a fun giveaway too! Thanks so much and I hope to see you there!-Nikkihttp://chef-n-training.blogspot.com/
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Sunny- thanks for the sweet comment!Oh and your the first person to comment on my playlist….I love that you noticed the little details. 🙂
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Wonderful! My kids would love to pull a chair up to this table and play!Thanks for linking up at my party. I feel like the new kid at school…worried no one would play with me so thanks for playing!
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Tonia- lol, your description makes me laugh but that is exactly how I would feel too! Thanks for having me and I will be partying with you every week going forward!
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I love the transformation of your table and chairs. This is wonderful! Thanks for sharing at Sassy Sites!
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this project looks great! my daughter would love this toohttp://momdaughterstyle.blogspot.com/
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Thanks ladies!
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Your posts are always so entertaining to read! You crack me up! I love that you called it a "prison" when you referred to your no-spend month. Ha ha! That is exactly how I would feel too! 🙂 We are going to be featuring this on Saturday- feel free to stop by and grab a button! And thanks so much for linking up to Strut Your Stuff Saturday! We would love to have you come back this weekend and link up more of your great posts!Camille @SixSistersStuff.blogspot.com
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I wish I would have thought about this before we carted away the "outgrown" Dora table to the Goodwill store. What a great idea!
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@ Camille- YIPPEEEE!!! I love being featured, thank you so very much!@ Lisa- LOL, oh how I wish I had posted this sooner! There is nothing worse than seeing something you can recreate and knowing you just gave up said thing to Goodwill days before…..:)
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I love this table! Absolutely adorable!
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Thanks so much Jen!
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I love chalkboard paint, use it all the time! Wonderful job with that table, it looks amazing! 🙂
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Me too! In fact, I just ran out of black paint so I used chalkboard paint instead! 🙂
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Way to use what you have! This looks great. And I'm impressed that you make sacrifices to be home with your girls. You won't regret it! Thanks for linking this great project to Fab Friday!Warmly, Michelle
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Aww thanks Michelle. 🙂 Some days are so hard being at home but I look at those faces and know I am doing the right thing. 🙂
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Your project rocked—I didn’t make it either, would you want to “craft from the sidelines”? http://redzoegirl.blogspot.com/2011/09/crafting-from-sidelines.html
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I am all over that!!! See ya there!! 🙂
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