Guest Post: Particle Board Table DIY

Today I'm happy to welcome back Elisha from Pneumatic Addict Furniture to share her Particle Board Table DIY. Everyone welcome her back and take a look at her awesome (not a fail in my book) project!

Have you ever started a project and thought "This is a piece of cake! I'll bust this bad boy out in a couple hours"? Usually right about that time I start to think that way, I'm smacked with a big fat surprise, and not the good kind.

Case in point. This "solid" pine coffee table.

I inherited it less than a week before a craft boutique I was going to be in. I thought, "Great! I'll just paint this puppy up real quick and bring it to the boutique."

It had some serious wear and tear. The whole thing was covered with dings and scratches. "No problem, I'll just go with a 'shabby' look".

I wanted the top stained, so that meant sanding off the finish. Just to make sure this table was really solid wood, I peeked underneath. Happily, I discovered wood all the way through.

Enter the belt sander. I thought, "Well since I'm going to be sanding this top anyways, I'll just go a little deeper and remove some of the scratches and dings. Its solid wood, so no problem."

About 2 minutes into the belt sanding I start to see a problem.

Yep, that's particle board peeking through thin veneer. "What?! But the underside of the top is wood also! No one would waste time and money to veneer the bottom of a pine table top would they?!"

Apparently someone did. So now I was faced with a new challenge. I decided to try something new. I mixed up a batch of a warm, beige color chalk-based paint and brushed 2 coats on the top.

Pardon the crappy, late-night photo

Once that was dry, I pulled out some Dark Walnut stain and brushed it over the tan paint. After soaking in a few minutes, I wiped away the excess. It still looked like paint, but the stain worked like a glaze and brought out all the cool texture and detail to the table top.

Before I wiped the stain away, it actually looked just like stained wood. I've seen this technique done before with gel stain and no wiping and it actually looks just like wood. I'll have to give that technique a try soon.

The legs and apron received 2 coats of a very pale blue, accented with some white dry-bushing and wet-distressing to the edges.

I replaced the wood knobs with a couple antique brass ones I had in my stash, and here is the final look!

Not bad for a free, particle board table.

Its not the stained top look I was originally thinking of, but the colors compliment each other well and I love all the texture of the top. Thankfully, so did the new owner.

What about you? Ever have a major FAIL that turned out okay in the end?

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