Reinvent It: Penny for Your Thoughts on This Antiqued Table?
Let's take it from the top. Make over a routine table with pennies and antiquing for a unique new look
Homeowner Debbie Murray loves to decorate and always keeps her eye out for clever ideas. "I had noticed creative people on the Internet using pennies on floors and backsplashes, and I wanted something done in pennies," she says. "I said to my husband, Jim, 'Honey, you can do this project for me, right?' Of course he could!"
The couple set out for local consignment shops and found a dressing table with a flip-up top for $175 at The Blue Building in Alabaster, Alabama. Next they hit the home improvement store for supplies to transform it. The result is a unique bedroom vanity with loads of patina and charm, with a copper top they scored for ... pennies. Here's how they did it.
Project: Penny-topped dressing table
Cost: About $315
Time: A few hours a day for one week
The couple set out for local consignment shops and found a dressing table with a flip-up top for $175 at The Blue Building in Alabaster, Alabama. Next they hit the home improvement store for supplies to transform it. The result is a unique bedroom vanity with loads of patina and charm, with a copper top they scored for ... pennies. Here's how they did it.
Project: Penny-topped dressing table
Cost: About $315
Time: A few hours a day for one week
Materials:
- Used vanity: $175
- 1,600 pennies: $16
- 1 quart of Behr self-primer, Antique White interior satin: $34
- 1 quart Rust-Oleum Decorative Glaze, Java Brown: $15
- Cheesecloth: $4
- Liquid Nails: $4
- One quart MinWax Fast-Drying Polyurethane, Clear Satin: $12
- Copper cleaner: $10
- 6 copper drawer pulls: $7.20 each
1. Jim painted the dressing table and drawers with two coats of the Antique White paint.
2. He applied the decorative glaze using cheesecloth and an old white T-shirt, giving the piece its antiqued look.
3. He preserved and added shine to his work with one coat of polyurethane.
2. He applied the decorative glaze using cheesecloth and an old white T-shirt, giving the piece its antiqued look.
3. He preserved and added shine to his work with one coat of polyurethane.
4. Jim figured out the best way to stagger the rows of pennies to cover as much of the top as possible. He started in the middle, checking to be sure that the top would still flip up.
5. While you could complete this in a work-filled three-day weekend, Jim affixed the pennies for a few nights after work. He glued each penny face up with Liquid Nails. In the middle he placed a few wheat pennies and Canadian pennies for fun.
6. After everything was dry, Jim gently wiped the pennies with copper cleaner using a rag. "We wanted to keep the variation of color with the coins," Debbie says.
7. Jim applied two coats of polyurethane on the pennies.
7. Jim applied two coats of polyurethane on the pennies.
In addition to serving as a dressing table, this is great place to work on the computer. Abbey Rose the dog enjoys catching up with her Facebook friends and browsing Houzz for ideas here.
The dressing table is nestled into a light-filled bay in the bedroom; the couple added a chandelier from Home Depot. "Jim did an awesome job!" Debbie says. She paired the dressing table with an upholstered chair she scored at Steinmart. The desk lamp is from At Home Furnishings in Homewood, Alabama.
Since completing the dressing table, she's put Jim and the leftover supplies to work; he's also antiqued a cane chair, a hope chest and a small china cabinet.
Since completing the dressing table, she's put Jim and the leftover supplies to work; he's also antiqued a cane chair, a hope chest and a small china cabinet.