SoVA Mom DIY Dry Erase Table

 

 

Have you ever seen the show "Design on a Dime?" In that program, designers create beautiful living spaces in homes on a super tight budget, often $1000 or less. Our family wanted to turn our dungeon of a basement into a comfy, cozy, beautiful, yet practical living space for the whole family to enjoy. The catch? We were on a "design on a dime" budget.  We had to be very creative about every aspect of the basement. This little project is one that resulted from our creative efforts.

I could have used a coffee table as is, but I wanted a piece of furniture that would be fun, could be used for board games, putting together puzzles, and for children's arts and crafts. I needed something that I wasn't afraid to get dirty or otherwise "mess up."  I found this coffee table from an estate auction for $5. It was very sturdy, functional, and had good project potential, the three qualities I always look for in thrifted and salvaged pieces.

I removed the hand pulls on the front and filled in the holes with a wood filler, then sanded with a hand held block sander. I then sprayed a light blue spray paint that I found at a local hardware store.  I am using fabrics in several colors and prints in this space, and I wanted a color that coordinated with those fabrics. This light aqua did the trick.

Did you know that this stuff existed? This is so cool! This is right up there with chalkboard paint. It comes in two containers in one box, and you have to mix them. If you have more than one project to do, do them at the same time. Once you mix the paint, you only have an hour or so to use it, and what is left is wasted. I didn't realize that when I started my project, and then I was running all over the house looking for something else I could paint.

I primed the whole table before painting any part of it. I always sand between paint coats. Miss Courtie is a great helper. We used Frog Tape (one of my very favorite products) to tape off the edges, then used a foam roller brush to paint on the dry erase paint. 

 

Voila! I think it turned out great! 

And the children love it! I can't wait to put this in our basement. It will be great for puzzles, games, arts and crafts, and for dry erase drawing and coloring. The fabric I mentioned earlier is going to be used to make four floor cushions for us to sit on. The games, crafts, and puzzles can easily be stored underneath the table alone or in baskets. How cute is this? 

 

The table was $5, the spraypaint was $4, the dry erase paint was about $20, and the dry erase markers were $2 per pack, for a total of $31 spent. I already had the primer, frog tape, and paint roller. If I had thought this out better, I could have used the paint on more than one project and spread my money much further. Live and learn. Regardless, I think it's a great table, and $31 is still pretty reasonable. What do you think?

 

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