Turn a Small End Table Into a Game Table -

Do you like to makeover furniture? If so, do your friends call you when they have pieces they don’t want anymore?

Mine do, and I almost always say “Yes, I want it”. Because of that, and much to my husband’s delight, my garage is full of pieces waiting to be given new life. This little Ethan Allen table that was one of those free pieces from a friend. It was probably originally a part of a set, but now it’s a loner. It’s also an odd size, too little to really be a bedside table, but maybe just the right size for an end table by a sofa or chair if they’re on the sorter side. Because of its quirky qualities, it sat in storage for a bit before I figured out what to do with it. Y’all furniture flippers know that inspiration doesn’t always come quickly.

I thought of turning this into a game table one evening when my boys were playing checkers on the floor. I actually brought the little table in so they could set their board on top of it, and I realized it’s the perfect size to makeover into a game table.

I knew I wanted a vintage, well loved look to be my results, so I chose my colors in a soft palette. I didn’t go with stark white and black like a chess board or red and black for checkers, although you could do either of those if you were going to recreate this same look.

Here are the supplies I used (I like to use affiliate links so that it’s convenient for you to find the products easily, and because I also get a small percentage of the sale).

First, I painted the entire table in the Americana Decor Chalky Finish in the color called Vintage. It’s such a pretty, soft blue.

Then a few days later my friend came into town for a visit, and together we finished it up. Aren’t projects so much more fun with a friend?

She used a yard stick and meticulously measured out little squares for the game board, marking them with pencil.

Then, she used blue painters tape and taped every other sure in the antique white (they look very yellow in this pic but that’s just the lighting in my art room).

When those dried, she taped the white ones off and painted the rest in soft black.

When that was dry, I distressed the table more, to give it a primitive look. The lines weren’t perfect on the squares, and they weren’t meant to be. The entire table was meant to look like an antique, and it does.

It got a coat of wax for a finish.

Funny story, I sent a photo of the end result to my friend who gave me the table, and she asked if she could buy it for her dad for Christmas! Instead, I traded her for some product photography for my blog. It’s a win-win for both of us.

I’ve tried a lot of types of chalk paint over the years. The Americana Decor Chalky Finish worked very well. I did use two coats on the table because it needed it over the dark finish. It also showed brush strokes a lot on the first coat, but none on the second one.

This table turned out beautifully, and I will definitely be using this chalk paint again.