Techniques for Painting Cheap & Chic Bedside Tables

To find affordable bedside tables for your home, shop secondhand. Auctions, thrift stores, flea markets and neighborhood yard sales will most certainly yield potential. Look for outdated tables or items that can be transformed into cheap and chic bedside tables using a variety of crafting and painting techniques. Something old and unappealing can be made new again to create one-of-a-kind bedside tables that will enhance and help define any bedroom decor.

Hollywood Glamor Bedside Table

Look for old bedside cabinets that are totally enclosed and have thick doors and fat spindle shaped corners. Sand and smooth any rough spots and imperfections and remove the dust with a clean rag. Remove the hardware and paint the doors separately from the cabinet. Spray a primer over the entire outer surface of the doors and cabinet. Paint over the primer using a silver spray paint. Repeat with as many coats as needed for complete coverage. Spray paint the hinges and handle silver.

Apply sizing or adhesive for silver leaf onto the tabletop of the cabinet. Allow the adhesive to set up according to the manufacturer's directions. Place one sheet of silver leaf in a bowl and crumble it slightly with the bristles of a paint brush. Sprinkle the silver crumbs over the table and brush them into the adhesive. Repeat with more silver leaf until the top of the table has been covered to your preference. Seal the top of the table using two coats of clear polyurethane. Reattach the doors and hardware.

Vintage Chic Bedside Table

You will need a wood frame suitcase stand, like those you put your suitcase on in a hotel room, and an old vintage suitcase. Cover the handle of the suitcase with masking tape. Paint the entire outer surface of the suitcase and the suitcase stand with light blue latex acrylic house paint or a color of your choice. Repeat with more coats for complete coverage. Allow the paint to dry. Paint the suitcase and stand with a layer of crackle medium. Allow the medium to dry to a tacky texture. Paint over the crackle medium with white latex acrylic house paint or a color of your choice. The white paint will immediately crack, showing the blue underneath.

With the suitcase laying on its side, determine which side will be the tabletop. Place the suitcase with the tabletop side down. Apply household cement to the top rails and straps on the suitcase stand. Position the suitcase stand, upside down on the suitcase, pressing the rails and straps against the suitcase. Place a heavy object on the stand until the glue dries. Turn the table right side up and remove the masking tape.