My Vintage Sheet Music Coffee Table

Forgive me for lack of photos, or cell phone photos, I did not plan to do anything but share with my friends and family on facebook until my hub said "You should blog it, step by step". Guess he was impressed with this coffee table transformation.

Our coffee table and end tables were given to us by a friend of my mom's when we bought our home in August of 2009. They are very well-built, made in the USA (woohoo!) and they had a good design to them. But they have an oak finish. Nothing wrong with that, but we have hardwood floors, and a wood panel wall by our fireplace. Add it all up, and it was just far too much wood.

Anyway, I think we have all seen a basic mid-late 1990's oak coffee table, so I think you'll understand the "before" image. Got it? No? Well maybe this helps..

Minus the bolts and side slats, this is basically our coffee table. 

Thursday night I was scanning pinterest and saw all of your usual coffee table refinishes, chalk paint galore! I have never worked with it, but would love to sometime. I stuck with what I know for this project. Good old Glidden. I chose the color "natural linen" because our couch looks like linen. Well when it is not covered in dog hair or toddler messes at least. 

Friday was a heck of a day at work, and I knew this would be a great project to distract me from the work week woes. So I purchased my supplies, and got to it. My one year old tumbled about the front yard as I put the first couple coats of paint on. Then after he went to sleep I put the final coat of paint on and started the scattering of the sheet music pages.  My favorite thrift store is St. Francis and I scored (haha a little musical pun there for ya!) some excellent sheet music there for a total of $3. Again, forgive the cell phone pics ;)

I decoupaged the bottom layer with this:

 I started the second (and third and some areas) layer and then trimmed off the edges with a box cutter. A craft knife would have done the same, but ya, know I was already in the garage.  I did three layers, not accounting for humidity.. oops it's August in my steamy garage! So the paper wrinkled and bubbled a little bit, but I really didn't mind it aesthetically. Plus I knew I would be adding Plexiglas to somewhat kid proof it.

Here are some details shots of the sheet music:

Killarney is a place I will be visiting soon, on a once in a lifetime trip to Ireland, so this find really excited me!

Of course, I love my country too!

My Gram's name was Marilyn <3

Christmas music! I love Christmas music!

I let everything dry overnight and then in the morning my son and I took a trip to our local Ace Hardwood store. Everyone there is always so friendly. If they don't know something, they know who to ask, but I've yet to stump them yet. An associate today was able to tell me something was "in aisle 24, 3/4 the way down on the right and side, knee height". Wow. I was impressed to say the least. And of course, my son made an impression on everyone who helped us. Everywhere we go people comment on how cute he is, and I agree, he is darn cute! There at the store, they cut the Plexiglas to fit the rectangle, and I purchased the vinyl stoppers and the spray varnish. 

Custom cut!

It really is fast-drying. Following the directions and waiting 24 hours is hard.

They suggested this.. duh, they saw the kid with me.

Vinyl pads to keep it in place.
(Also isn't the reflection of the sky on my car hood beautiful? Benefits of crafting in the garage)

As I mentioned, the whole waiting thing is hard. I'm not good at waiting. Patience is not my strong suit. I brought the table in to "finish drying" in it's home, in our living room. I mean, it is really humid outside, I am just speeding the process up, right? Riiiight. The vinyl pads are in the corners affixed to the table with tiny dabs of super glue.

Back in it's home in front of our ..err.. dirty couch. Hey, we have two dogs and a one year old! 

As always the dogs are thrilled by my antics. Meet Panzer and Bo. Bo blends in with the hardwood floor, too. See why this table needed to this update? So much of the Bo color in this room!

Now, that is an easy project. I started Friday at 5 pm and was finished and letting it dry by 6 pm Saturday. Sunday comes and we have a brand new looking table, not bad at all.

Here's the cost breakdown:
Table: FREEEEE! My favorite price!
Paint: $10.77 (Used half a quart, will probably use the other half for the end tables)
Decoupage: Free, had it, but it probably runs about $5
Sheet Music: $3.20
Plexiglas: $21.40 after tax
Polyurethane: $10.68 after tax
Vinyl Sticky tabs: $2.12

Grand total of $48.17

OPTIONAL cleaner: $7.47

Now I have to decide which bins I want to put underneath to help hold toys, books etc. I have narrowed it down to three choices, depending on my mood I like all three of them.

Love this container store option, but afraid the stripes may be too much.. yeah, they probably are. 

Adore these from Land of Nod, and adore the price as well!

Oh, Pottery Barn, you know I love galvanized metal. These are great.

What say you? Option 1,2 or 3?

I really love how this coffee table now looks in this room. We do not have a television in our living room, but we do have a guitar, piano, and speakers for listening to music, so I feel like it just really ties that feeling together. Thanks for reading and looking through all the photos, I really enjoyed this project and can't wait to share the next with you!