Chevron Striped Table

My sister picked up a little drop-leaf end table for $2 from a garage sale and gave it to me. The table was plain, and solid wood.  I needed to tighten the legs and leafs before I got started.  Then I sanded the top to see if I could salvage it.  The wood was very damaged.

Did I take any photos of this process? Of course not.

I wound up painting it black with a mixture of spray paint and a can of black semi-gloss.  I used the spray paint on the legs and undersides of the leafs because it was easier than trying to paint them with a brush.  I figured, it's a $2 table and I didn't need it to be perfect.

Commence Chevron stripes.  They were a pain.  I started by finding the center of the table and making marks from the center outward.  The chalk marks indicated where I should start and stop taping.

Once I'd finished taping, I began painting in the stripes.  I used a metallic silver by Martha Stewart.  I don't recommend this because it wound up looking like duck tape.  But it's still cool and I like it.

It took about 3 or 4 coats.

I am now using this table as a printer table in my office and it's perfect.  Once I removed the tape, I found it had bled a bit in the acute angle areas.  I had to go in with a small brush and touch up the black.  I did 4 or 5 coats of polycrylic on this piece to seal up the top so it doesn't chip off.