Stop! I Need That Octagon-Shaped Table!

  
Here's the story of my first-ever, real-deal, do-it-yourself furniture project.  At the beginning of this summer, a very dear friend of mine got a job in Texas and couldn't take a whole lot of her old furniture with her.  She was actually desperate to get rid of some of it.  Good thing I hardly had any furniture to my name and an empty house, so I was able to take a few things of her hands.  She gave me a table, a mid-century looking dresser, and a tiny nightstand.  I gave her a bottle of my homemade mead.  Pretty fair trade, if I say so myself.

   So, I did my homework and I came across this project idea for the table: http://www.designsponge.com/2012/05/diy-project-painted-glass-tabletop.html

 

The first step was to choose some colors I liked and create some sort of pattern.  I was dealing with an awkward shape, so I decided to draw my pattern in AutoCAD / photoshop first, to make sure I knew what I was doing.   (Pro-tip: never try and design something this difficult on your first try).  Next, I bought way to much spray paint.  As a noob, I had no idea how much I needed, so I bought too much.  Especially the orange spray paint, which was also meant to be sprayed on the wood frame and metal legs (which I decided against later-thank goodness!).  I'm guessing I spent around $40 for supplies.

 

The second step was so tedious, I felt like giving up right then and there! I took some clear contact paper and layered it over the glass of the table, and then I traced out my pattern very carefully with a ruler.  I slowly cut out each little piece with a small x-acto blade and stuck it onto the glass.  I realized later on that this is not the ideal adhesive material and next time I think I'd use painters tape and a less complicated pattern. 

 

The third step was the fun part: add color! I started off by peeling apart all the pieces of contact paper that were making the orange stripes.  Then I sprayed until I felt it had an even layer of orange.  I let that dry a little bit, then I peeled away all the stickers making the gray stripes.  Then the yellow, blue, and white.  In theory, when you flip the glass over, you will see your nice neat painted pattern.  However, for me that was not exactly the case.  All the while, I noticed that the paint bled a little bit so I never got those crisp clean lines that I wanted. I think the spray paint was actually causing the contact paper to un-stick and curl.   It was also a very humid evening. I corrected a few spots using a Q-tip but that still didn't solve the problem.   Fortunately, this table looks great in photos! Obviously I didn't mess up too bad!

 Final step: put glass back on table, awkwardly fit into your tiny kitchen. Good luck eating at because you don't actually own any dining chairs...yet.

 

Here is a staged photo.  See? I told you it looks great in photos!!

  

The End!

Or is it?  I am planning on experimenting with this table a little bit more.  This was just the first try, and luckily there is such a thing called paint thinner.  I plan to make a better version that will match my kitchen a bit better, and some kitchen chairs (in progress).  About those chairs...that's another story soon to come! Stay tuned!