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By Sarah from Atomic Magpie

Recently, I picked up a couple of vintage tray tables for a few bucks. You know the kind, the ones that fold up and fit neatly down the side of your fridge or couch. Metal trays for eating TV dinners on the couch, all the rage in the 50’s and 60’s. They were in rough condition, but I loved the shape of the legs (anyone that follows my projects knows about me and great legs!)

Before TV tray — Before. It’s hard to see how damaged the tray is, but it was

I knew the tray tops were pretty close to unsalvageable, as they were dinged and rusty and chipped. It’s hard to tell from the photos just how beat up the trays were, but trust me, they were. When it comes to vintage furniture, I’ll almost always attempt a restoration over a revamp, but alas it wasn’t an option this time. The legs were in much better shape, so I set about to repurpose them. I wiped them down with a wet rag and lightly sanded them with 200 grit sand paper. Next I applied a thin coat of Kilz spray on primer with rust protection. I did the same to the trays, just to see how they might look with some paint on them (the answer is – not much better). Accepting that the trays were beyond help, as I had originally figured, I decided to ditch them and move onto another plan.

Tray table underside — I’m all about the legs!

I covered the black feet caps with painters tape and applied two coats of Rustoleum’s metallic gold paint to the legs, making sure I gave them plenty of time to dry in between coats. I finished them with a quick spray of Rustoleums clear coat.

I had an old wooden tray lying around that was the perfect size to fit in the legs, it even had a ledge on the bottom, so the legs just clipped in without sliding all the way open. I painted the tray with Rustoleum’s flat black. Once it had dried fully, I found some awesome paper, which I cut to the size of the tray. Using Mod Podge, I applied a thin layer to adhere it and, when it dried, I applied another layer over the top to seal. After my Peacock table makeover and the Mod Podge freak out I had then, I knew the bubbles this time were normal and would go away once dried, which they did. Easy.

Finished bar table — Voila! A portable bar table

So there you have it. A quick and simple repurpose – from a TV dinner tray table, to a sweet, portable bar table. Easy and fab!

By Sarah from Atomic Magpie

Itching to revamp something, this little table was basically a throw away I decided to play with. Nothing vintage about it, this particle board decorator table was plain, ugly and pretty hopeless, so with little to lose I went to town.

I removed the legs, the only real wood component, and lightly sanded the pressed wood table top. It had some raised water damaged spots, so I knew painting wouldn’t be enough to fix it. The trim was plastic faux wood, also virtually impossible to do much with. I used Kilz Spray on Primer to prime the table top and trim.

While that dried, I sanded the legs and used Minwax Gel stain in Hickory to stain them a lovely rich color. I’m obsessed with gel stain since it saved my last makeover project from disaster. It just goes on so smoothly, with little prep and still lets the gorgeous wood-grain shine through.

I used Rustoleum’s Gold Metallic paint to spray the trim and edge of the table top. I did two light coats and 24 hours later I used Mod Podge to affix some awesome peacock paper I had to the table top. I did 3 layers of Mod Podge on top of the paper, and on the side trim to seal it. This was my first time using Mod Podge, and even though I had followed the instructions and used a credit card to smooth the paper after adhering it, I had a little freak out moment when the paper appeared bubbly with tons of air pockets after the first coat. Not really knowing what to do next, I left it to dry over night, and was thrilled to see that once it had dried, all bubbles had vanished.

As a final little touch, I decided to pay homage to mid century table legs and I taped off the bottom of the legs and used the gold spray to create the look of metal ferrules (leg caps). A nice little cheat that turned out wonderfully.

So there you have it, a quick and easy table makeover that turned the dumpster table into a fabulous, feathery showpiece.

Atomic Magpie

Mid Century Modern homewares & accessories. We like shiny things.

From TV Dinner to Happy Hour!

From Dumpster to Diva, a table transformation!