Scavenger Chic

Painted Harlequin Diamond Side Table

• By Joan
• April 7, 2019
• 5 Comments

I found this little side table at a garage sale last summer and he has been taking up space ever since.  It’s time for his makeover.

Since it’s white, I’m gonna just have to paint it black.  Who doesn’t like a dramatic makeover?

Ever since I finished the little desk lamp with painted harlequin diamonds a couple weeks ago, I’ve had that look stuck in my head.  This little guy is getting the harlequin diamond treatment.

I really wanted to take the wire out of the doors.  I was thinking, insert a plain piece of wood and give it the same diamond paint treatment as I’m about to give the top…or maybe a couple of rusty tin roofing shingles I have laying around.

My hopes and dreams were not to be  (a little dramatic maybe?) the wire was inside the door frame.  I would have had to dismantle the entire door to get that thing out of there.  I think the wire is growing on me  🙂

The sides and the drawer all got a coat of black chalk paint.  I’m holding off on the doors for now.  I want to paint the wire mesh before attacking the frames.

I painted the top with a coat of sand colored chalk paint.  I never bothered to clean the black from my paintbrush since I’m using the black remnants to blend in with the sand. Remember, a little black goes a long way.

Paint with crisscross strokes as this will be the background of the harlequin diamond pattern on the top.

Once the sand and dirty paintbrush layer was dry, I added a few strokes of light gray dry brushed on, again in a crisscrossed pattern.

Draw your harlequin diamond pattern on top.  I used a small paper pattern to start my diamonds and finished off with a ruler.

Fill in your diamond pattern with black paint.

I had a beautiful day to work on this project so I took this baby outside for a little spray painting.

Since I couldn’t get rid of my wire mesh, I decided to give the wire a rusty look.  This is terra cotta colored spray paint.  If you don’t have spray paint, you can get the same effect with acrylic paints.  Spray paint inside and out.

I followed the terra cotta with a light coat of dark brown. Light enough so that the terra cotta was still visible.

While I was still outside, I sprayed the inside with black spray paint.

Finished up the doors with more of the black chalk paint.

This is the final top before waxing or sanding.    If this is the look you want, finish the top and sides with clear wax.  You only have to finish with the wax if you painted with chalk paint.

This step is not for everyone…for my personal preference I had to give this side table a little wear and tear, out comes the sandpaper once again.

Follow the sanding with vintage wax.  Like I said before, this look is not for everyone, feel free to skip the sanding and just finish with the clear wax.

The knobs are from Hobby Lobby.  As always, make sure you wait until they’re on sale when they are 50% off.

Did you notice that I added a knob?  The original piece only had a knob on the right door. 

I love a good before and after!  Have a great week, stay inspired.

Shared at Talk of the Town

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