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How I painted a world map on my coffee table
I found this coffee table at an antique/flea market for $40 (it is not antique... but very sturdy... witch is important when you know your children will be diving off of it onto the couch). It also has storage and is large... exactly what I was looking for. My husband was WAY less than trilled when I brought it home. It was dirty, peeling, chipping, and covered in 20 coats of old paint. I don't blame him, but I had a vision.

Posted by whiletheysnooze from St Cloud, Florida, United States • Published
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  • How to make a painted table. Diy Painted Map Table - Step 1
    Step 1

    Sand and scrape your furniture piece until you have a mostly smooth, even surface. I had to dig chunks of old paint out of the molding on the top. Wipe off the dust.

  • How to make a painted table. Diy Painted Map Table - Step 2
    Step 2

    Mix your chalk paint. Mix 2 cups of your base color with 1/3 cup of plaster and a tiny bit of water. I added some black to my white base color. So my table is actually really light gray. This part is forgiving... you can eyeball it.

  • How to make a painted table. Diy Painted Map Table - Step 3
    Step 3

    Paint your base color. I did 2 coats of chalk paint and lightly sanded after the last one to make the surface really smooth.

  • How to make a painted table. Diy Painted Map Table - Step 4
    Step 4

    Cut your map. I used an X-acto blade and roughly cut out the majority of land masses. There are going to be several angry Canadians out there because I edited many of their upper islands. Sorry, there were too many and it's cold up there anyway! Japan is missing as well! It's "art", right?? : /

  • How to make a painted table. Diy Painted Map Table - Step 5
    Step 5

    Paint your world. I placed the map on top of the table and taped it in place. Then I painted lightly from the outer edges inward around all of the continents until the whole map was roughed in. I switched between all of my craft paints to do this. Sometimes blue, sometimes green, yellow and gray.

  • How to make a painted table. Diy Painted Map Table - Step 6
    Step 6

    Remove the paper map and continue painting. This is the part thats up to you. You can make it as "painterly" or crisp as you want. I chose to water down my paint and let a lot of it drip onto the map using a plastic spoon. Then I smudged a bit with a damp rag.

  • How to make a painted table. Diy Painted Map Table - Step 7
    Step 7

    If you have another area on the piece, tape off a cool pattern. I did an X shape on my center shelf using 1" painter's tape. Just find the center and go from the corners to there. Then work your way out using another piece of tape as a spacer. I painted these stripes in the same colors I used on the top.

  • How to make a painted table. Diy Painted Map Table - Step 8
    Step 8

    Add some detail to storage boxes. This took less than a minute. I lined up the boxes, eyeballed a stripe with two pieces of tape, and painted across all 3 at once. Then I painted the little paper ovals that came with the boxes and put those inside the handle space. Very easy!

  • How to make a painted table. Diy Painted Map Table - Step 9
    Step 9

    Wax on, wax off! Give your piece a coat of finishing wax to protect your work, buff it off, and you're done!

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Comments

Tracy C.
Tracy C. · Pretoria, Gauteng, ZA · 10 projects
Totally fab - you did an awesome job!
Reply
KelliDroze
KelliDroze · Roseville, Minnesota, US · 8 projects
You did such a good job! It's beautiful c:
whiletheysnooze
whiletheysnooze · St Cloud, Florida, US · 1 project
Thanks!
Reply

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