Um...no...not exactly right....

Even the best of us make mistakes.  I made one this time...not the first time...probably not the last!

I brought this nifty little coffee table home from the apartments.  Solid wood and it was very sturdy. It had awesome bones, but it needed a little facelift!

I thought I would give it the ole' "chalk paint" treatment.  I painted it a nice off-white chalk paint and then hit it with a little sand paper!  

And I HATED it.  It just did not want to be chalk painted.  Yuck.

I knew better...this table is just not "right" for a chalk paint treatment.

So I stripped it down and started over. Sometimes in order to get it right you have to bite the bullet and start over. 

Stripping wood down to natural after painting it is NOT an easy task.  But I knew I had to do it.  A little sanding, a little stripper, a lot of elbow grease.   Fortunately I only had to strip the top and the drawer front.  I was painting the rest of it so I just sanded it smooth, hit is with Kilz and then sanded it again before painting it....this time with a nice latex paint.

And I am sooo glad I did!  I stained the top and the drawer front with my favorite java gel stain and painted the rest of it with my favorite Valspar Dune white...identical to the little side table I did here. A simple little brush nickel knob.  

Much better.  

I get my stain fix and the table gets a much needed facelift!