Budget Friendly Coffee Table Flip

Every Wednesday around here is a day full of adventure. You see, we visit all of our local thrift shops trying to find pieces of furniture to flip at prices you can’t beat. I even wrote a post about it to help you on your own thrifting adventures, How to Find Thrift Stores in Your Area (including all my tips and tricks). 

During one of my Wednesday thrifting trips to my favorite warehouse full of secondhand furniture, I found a coffee table that immediately caught my eye. It was red, scratched, had crayon marks all over the top, and it came home with me! And did I mention for $10? I also don’t know why I didn’t get a before picture, but here it is in our front room before we did anything to it.

At a price I couldn’t say no to, it magically fit in my car like it was meant for me to flip. Between weekends, nap times, and painting at night, this table was transformed into a coffee table we’ll now be using in our front room. 

How We Flipped the Coffee Table

We knew the red paint on the legs would be too difficult to remove so we focused on the top first. After applying a coat of Citristrip, we were able to easily scrap the paint off the top and edges. This product is a miracle worker when it comes to removing paint and it’s a safer alternative compared to other paint strippers. For one, it doesn’t have any harsh fumes. It also only took a fraction of the time to get the paint off compared to sanding.

And with a quick sanding to remove any remaining paint and to smooth out the wood, we were ready for stain. I’ve never been able to find my go-to stain color. And depending on the wood you’re applying the stain to, the color of the stain can change. But I finally found a solution. I ended up mixing two different stains to achieve my ideal color. And now it’s officially my go to! By mixing Special Walnut and Classic Gray by Minwax, we were able to achieve this color. 

Then it was time to flip the bottom half of the coffee table. I avoided having to sand by using chalk paint. By creating my own, I was able to pick any color I wanted and decided to go with Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams. It’s a creamy white that provided warmth and beautifully worked with the stain we used on the top. My new favorite combo!

Overall, I spent $18 on this coffee table and I couldn’t be happier with the end result. The crazy part? There were two of these tables in the thrift shop. Only difference? The other one had the original orange colored stain and was $25. In other words, not painted bright red. I opted for this $10 coffee table because by putting in a little work, I ended up with a gorgeous coffee table. 

I’ll share a post soon on how to flip a piece of furniture and how to make your own chalk paint. Until then, happy #WednesdayWeThrift! 

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