Miss Pink: The Coffee Table!

So yeah...  I actually painted a coffee table pink!

I've been "rejuvenating" furniture for a few years now, and I tend to lean towards the color black and a few other dark shades. I enjoy distressing the paint for that cottage chic look, but I have typically stayed away from the whites, ivories and other lighter colors.  However, when I came across this table, my first thought was to paint it pink....what?...so I did!  Admittedly, I left the top finished in its natural wood (the grain is just too beautiful to paint over), but the remainder of the table is pink.  Check it out....

This is what Miss Pink looked like when I first got my hands on her:

She is a "Lane" brand table, so she is very good quality.  Very sturdy...solid as a rock, really.  However, being so sturdy didn't sway me away from girlie pink, so here we go....

See?  She really is a Lane:

Miss Pink and I got down to business.  I taped off the underside of the table in order to retain the Lane stamping.  I then sanded off the original finish, leaving a bit of the darker finish remaining in the grooves around the table top.  Not only was less sanding required, but I really liked the look of it:

You'll have to forgive me, but I didn't get pictures of the next two steps, which were to give Miss Pink two coats of Kilz white primer, followed by two coats of "Oops Pink" paint.  You know about "Oops" paint, right?  It's what Home Depot calls its discounted paint that a customer ordered, but wasn't properly mixed to the right color.  Therefore, I named the color "Oops Pink."

This is where the creativity (crazy?) in me kicked in.  I decided to add a transfer of a rose graphic (courtesy of The Graphics Fairy...love this site!) to the center of the table top using the wax paper method.  This was the first time I'd given this a shot and it took several attempts to get it correct (during which I questioned this particular creative decision!), but I finally nailed it!  Granted, I had to hand paint in some of the detail that didn't transfer correctly (you'll notice in the photo that it transferred sort of messy), but in the end, I'm pretty darn pleased with it!

So after touching up Miss Pink's roses, she and I took a trip outside.  I sanded and distressed the legs and base of the table to give it that wonderful cottage chic look.  I stained the table top with a lighter shade of stain (if you go too dark, the transfer isn't very visible).  I stained the base and the legs with a darker shade to really bring out the distressed areas and to tone the pink down to a color that pink-lovers and pink-not lovers can both enjoy.  This subtle shade of pink also makes it easy to coordinate with the existing colors in one's home if pink is a new introduction!

Once Miss Pink looked absolutely perfect, I completed her by applying a polyurethane by hand to give it that hand-rubbed finish that is so beautiful and classic.  And, man, oh man, did the polyurethane enrich the wood grain on the top....gorgeous!

 I never thought it would happen, but Miss Pink is bringing me over to the light side....