Hello! You know when you want to do something useful and creative but you have that lazy Sunday feeling? Here’a an easy 20 minute project to make something pretty with minimal effort.

I bought this little folding mid-century modern side table at a charity furniture store in Byker, Newcastle (note to British readers – yes, that Byker). At £4, it was a bargain, and I thought it would come in handy for occasional use.

This morning I thought it could use a little makeover, but nothing which would detract from it’s simplicity and clean lines. Then I remembered I still had a small amount of paint left over from my copper spray paint superhero post, so I decided to paint the bottom third of the legs as if they had been dipped in copper (Rustoleum Painters Touch in copper, £4.99).

I did no prep other than to make sure the table was clean – I used sticky stuff remover to remove some sticky residue.

In terms of design, given that I’m such a clumsy-clops, I was taking no chances whilst spraying the table legs, and spent about 10 minutes applying masking tape and newspaper to get a really secure masked-off area. It’s important to take a little extra time to get the masking tape as straight as you can. To help, I aligned the tape with the bottom of the table cross brace – that way I could use the cross brace as a guide to follow for tape positioning.

I then fashioned a “skirt” from newspaper and taped it into place using the masking tape.

Next, I simply sprayed the table legs and left to dry, removing the masking tape after about 30-45 minutes before completely dry to avoid peeling flakes of paint away. I only used one coat of paint because I wanted a subtle, slightly washed out effect which would catch the light; you might want to use another coat or two if you’re going for a bolder effect.

I do struggle a bit with the spraying technique when using this Rustoleum spray. The paint is such good quality and gives a lovely colour, but can be quite blotchy and uneven on application. This time I was ready for this to happen, and I used a small sponge to swipe the wet paint down the legs in the direction of the grain. I had no idea what this would do, but I’m really happy with the slightly faded, more natural look this gives, with the grain of the wood almost showing through. Happy days! 🙂