Finally getting around to the coffee table...

About a year and a half ago my husband's aunt moved and did not have space for one of her gigantic coffee tables.  Fortunately, we have an enormous couch that our small old coffee table really looked silly next to.  The problem was that there were stains on the top of the table that wouldn't come off, and the paint colors really didn't fit with what I had envisioned for the room.

Before...

 Zooming in on the spots...

For a long time this table sat in our garage because I just could not come up with a vision for it.  I'm kind of struggling with a vision for that room in general.  I want it to be inviting and comfy, but right now it is pretty boring.  I'm now visualizing some good ideas for the room, but the execution will take time.

In any case, the first step was to seal in the old paint and stains.  I didn't want to just paint over it because I thought the spots would bleed right through.  I had heard that you could avoid sanding old paint when repainting a surface if you just used a coat of this first: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zinsser-Cover-Stain-1-Gal-White-Primer-Sealer-182410/202016527#.UaLXIKKsiSo (Zinsser Cover Stain Primer) which you can pick up for less than $20 at your local home improvement store.  This is fairly sticky (oil based) and is a mess to clean up.  I'd recommend using an old paint brush that you'd throw out anyway and making sure you get it done quickly to keep the brush from getting gooey while you work.

After that, I just used the leftover paint (from painting the fireplace and wall cutouts in that room), and some stencils I bought for about $14 on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005LUSWFE/ref=pe_309540_26725410_item and
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001C2GFBS/ref=pe_309540_26725410_item

The painting and stenciling was a bit of a challenge because I had to get to it when the baby would nap.  Unfortunately, this turned out to be the weekend where the baby would only sleep for 10-20 mins at a time and then wake up screaming, so my brushes kept drying out.  My husband was doing some major yard work, so it was really hard trying to get both projects done without neglecting our son.

Here's the final product.

My only complaints with this project are that (1) I didn't know how to cover/fill-in the split in the wood, but I wish I would've made the effort to learn before I did the painting and (2) the paint I had leftover was flat so the finish on this table is quite delicate.  I'm going to look into ideas for doing some sort of a glossy finish or seal to keep the top from getting damaged by normal use and spills.  Maybe I can also figure out how to do something about the wood split without messing up the design too much...