No Paint Required

I was cruising down a busy street that runs through Prairie Village, a bedroom community in suburban Kansas City.  Prairie Village...isn't that a great name for a Kansas town?

Actually, it was a carefully planned community, started in 1941 and developed by the same person who designed Kansas City's famous County Club Plaza.

Anyway, since it residential community developed 60 years ago, almost all the major roads that run through this town are lined with houses.  And one of them was having a BIG garage sale, and the yard was filled with furniture.

My mind raced.  No parking on the main road.  It's HOT.  I'd have to park on a side street a block away and walk to the sale.  It's a sunny, humid 97 degree afternoon.  And I had just spent the last three dollars I had in my wallet at ReStore.  Where was the nearest ATM machine?

No worries.  It was worth the sweaty effort.  The selection was great and the prices were fantastic.

I hauled away this darling table.  It was grubby and the top was cracked, but I couldn't pass it up.  I simply love the sides and the book storage it offers.

I thought about painting it while I was washing the layers of filth.  But look at this cracked and chippy paint.

I'm going to leave it alone, for now.  The crack on the top is a drag, but I had just the thing to cover it.

I found two of these trays at two different thrift stores this winter, so I suspect they must have been part of a gift set at a big box store.  I can never pass up a tray, even if I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet.

I gave it a quick coat of black craft paint, but the bottom was a slightly lumpy, probably from dampness.  I cut out a piece of textured wallpaper and glued it to the bottom.  I thought about painting the paper too, but in the end, I decided I liked the contrast.

The small scale of this table fits in well in the tiny hearth room.

I've worked on this room for about seven months, but other than a few minor touches, I'm ready to call this room complete.

You can see the before and after of the chairs here.

Do you love a good before and after that involves spray paint?  Read how I decorated the mantel here and here.