Stenciled Coffee Table

by Susie Ayala November 15, 2020

This turned out to be such a fun piece to work on! I’ve avoided it for so long as it sat in corner of my sun room and I just walked on past it day after day. Now that the sun room has been cleaned up with a pretty brand new painted patio, it’s gotta go.

My dad picked this piece up for me at a thrift shop and it came with a missing top, It had three separate sections where I believe glass inserts sat…. this is where I would insert a before photo, if I had one. Oops

I measured the width of the coffee table and trimmed 8″ wide pine “common” boards to fit and nailed them down with a pneumatic gun. Common boards come in a many different widths, sometimes it works out perfect without any boards having to be sliced down the middle, like in this case. With some fairly easy math you can figure out which size works best for your project.

My initial plan was to simply stain the top, but I’ve had this stencil just laying around for a few years now so I figured it was time to get some use out it and this was the perfect piece to experiment with. The stencil was purchased from Pearl Designs on Etsy. It is a quarter design, 8″ tile.

Before stenciling began, I gave the table top a coat of Wise Owl Paint in Antique Villa as the base color and let dry. To start the stencil, I measured the middle of the surface length and width wise… this was easy for me seeing that there are an equal number of boards, which created a natural line/seam to start on. I used a mix of Wise Owl Glacial and Smokey Quartz for the main design and Black for the outline. For best results, use a round flat tipped stencil brush.

I could have stopped here, but that’s just not my style. I like my furniture to reflect real life… perfectly imperfect! I went over the surface several times with my orbital sander and 100 grit sand paper until I was content with the amount of distressing.

After distressing, I applied Wise Owl Glaze in Black Walnut directly to the painted surface, this will stain the bear wood that is now exposed from distressing and ages the overall design even further. I brushed the glaze on with a chip brush and then wiped away. You can go back over lightly in areas that you want even more of an aging effect. For example, around edges and seams.

Once I achieved my desired look, I gave it time to completely dry and topped with two coats Wise Owl Varnish in Matte.

The base of the table was in no better shape. It had many imperfections and even some warping around the side panels, but still in solid sturdy condition.. this makes it a perfect candidate for a textured finish. Texture can add a ton of charm and character, but it can also disguise imperfections.

I used the Glacial/Smokey Quartz paint mixed with Plaster of Paris to create the texture. It’s not an exact science… I added approximately two table spoons of Plaster of Paris to 8oz. of paint, about the consistency of thick pancake batter. I used a cheap chip brush to stipple the texture on. You do not want to use your good expensive brushes for this step!

Once dry, I layered with a coat of Antique Villa, and sanded back to reveal the color underneath. I applied one coat of varnish, then glazed. This allows the glaze to easily wipe away and only sit in the grooves. I finished with two coats of Wise Owl Matte Varnish.