Laundry Room Folding Table

It's finally finished!  We always have projects going on at our house, but the thing is that they are usually for someone else.  That means that "our" projects are always finished last, when we have a little spare time, which doesn't happen very often.

Here's how this folding table sat for several months in our garage.

Eddie built it specifically to fit these baskets.

Photo Credit

We like to stain first then paint secondly.  We created this custom stain color by using Provincial and Jacobean stain.  Applied three coats and finished it off with liquid wax in matte.

I knew I wanted the body of the table to have a white distressed, two-tone look to it and I wanted the bottom layer to appear to be a dark wood tone.  To achieve that look I painted the entire base in a dark brown paint.  Espresso from Plaster Paint.

After the basecoat dried I applied a light sealer so that when I begin to distress my table later I wouldn't be able to see the raw wood beneath this brown basecoat.  

I really watered down my basecoat so it would apply quickly and easily.  I didn't really care if it covered completely since I was going to heavily distress it anyway.

**TIP**  If you water down paint, always use bottled water.  The minerals in tap water mix with the additives in Plaster Paint and stink to high heaven!

Keep in mind that there is no right or wrong way when watering down your paint.  Find a consistency that you like, not too thick and not too runny.

Let your topcoat dry completely.  Here's what so great about this paint -- distressing with a wet rag!

I use my hubby's old white t-shirts.  I like to distress where the piece would naturally age over time, sharp corners and edges.  If you take off too much, simply paint back over it and let it dry.

The pictures don't do the top justice.  Seriously, I'm not even kidding.

Here it is actually in our laundry room where it has made doing laundry so much easier!

Our washer / dryer are on the exact opposite wall so its a little hard to get good pictures in this room.

Pay no mind to the paint touch-ups that are waiting to be fixed.  Our washer went out last July then two weeks later our dryer bit the dust as well.  Not a good week I'll tell ya!  We bought the same brand hoping that they would fit the old pedestals.  Guess what?  They didn't fit and I was not about to pay nearly $500 for them so Eddie built this.  I love it so much more than I ever did those pedestals.

Yay for finished projects!  Feels good to mark one more off the list!