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8/17/12

FREE TABLE TRANSFORMED TO GAME TABLE~ IC#12


Welcome back to Pondered Primed Perfected for another dose of Inspiration Cafe!  It's been a crazy, busy time around here but I can't wait to show you my little DIY project.


Scott brought this free table home when he went to pick up something off Craigslist and they said "You want any of this other stuff?"

You can guess what he said.  :)

It was pretty messed up so I sanded it down and then stained the square leg portions with clear poly to bring out the detailing in the boxtail joints.  :)  I thought they were dovetailed at first but looked it up to make sure...they're called boxtailed if they are squared like this.  Good to know, right? 

I stained the tabletop portion with a dark brown stain and left it otherwise unfinished.  I knew I wanted to do something fun with it, but at that time I had no idea what....

We've been working on what we call the NOOK upstairs.  It's a little gaming and movie viewing area we added to our upstairs space.  We needed some type of lightweight table for setting a cribbage board or a game of checkers on...maybe some game controllers and a juice box from time to time.  So...


Just the perfect size for board games, right?
So using our cardboard checkerboard as a sizing guide, I marked out a grid with pencil and straight edge.  I measured the tabletop and marked the center point and measured out from there so it would all be centered nicely. 


 
Once the lines were all marked I went over them again with a white paint pen.  I wasn't going for perfect so I didn't get too concerned if the lines were a bit wobbly or the amount of paint coming out wasn't exactly consistent. 
Once I had the grid done I started filling in every other square...you know...like a checkerboard!  ;)


I didn't try to fill them in completely but kind of scribbled them in from one corner to the other. Then I went around the outer edge again to make it stand out as the border.


That's it!  Simple really.


Then I got all artsy-smart and wanted to take some cool photos in the yard since the NOOK area is too dark for good photography.
A couple of stumps as chairs.  Cool, huh!?  I thought so!


Add the checkers and you're ready for some friendly competition.
BUT I decided I just had to climb on one of those cute little stumps to get a better angle.  I got a better angle alright...when it dumped me on my Patootie in the grass!!!!!

Here's the angle from down there!!!
(You'll notice the slightly broken "boxtailed" table joint...yeah...I did that when I used the table to break my fall.  :)  It hurt.  A LOT.  That'll teach me to get artsy-fartsy with my photos!  I couldn't figure out if I should laugh or cry, so I did both.  I think the table's okay.  The camera survived too.  My leg may be scarred a bit...that little stump took out a nice section of my shin.  I uttered a few choice cuss words.  I can't quite remember.  I quickly snapped this last photo to check that the camera was okay, then crawled to the bench for first aid.  Thank you Scotty!)

Little bit of wood glue and this table will be ready for some gaming action!  I hope it hosts many fun games and happy moments.  That might make up for the pain!!

I love how it looks with our glass chess set!



Time to brush up on my chess playing skills!!!


17 comments :

  1. I love your transformation! What a great idea...so fun! I love, LOVE, love the glass chess set. As for the fall, OUCH! Way to sacrifice your body for the camera and table! :O)

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  2. What an idea! And bringing people together, even better :)
    Cheers

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  3. My husband loves chess...this is definitely something I could use. Sad about your fall!!

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  4. I love the look of the scribbled boxes. I wouldn't have thought of a paint pen for this. You are so creative!!

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  5. Hi! I'm visiting from Silo Hill Farms. What a great find! The table turned out fantastic and the board idea is awesome! You are so talented!

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  6. Love this make-over! Such a fun, easy project & the I love that you scribbled the white, rather than trying to make it solid white! Sarah

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  7. Not at all what I expected...it exceeded anything I could have imagined. This is brilliant. What a fun DIY project.

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  8. Sherry
    Came over from Silo Hill. I hope your boo-boo is better! At least you saved the table and the camera was okay! I have never found anything on CL especially free. You really did a great job transforming this!

    Distressed Donna Down Home

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  9. Sherry, once again you have made an awesome project! I have no idea how to play chess, checkers are more my speed and even then I can be beaten by a child!! I love that you didn't fill in the board spaces all the way. What a fun project out of a Craigs List find! Sorry you fell....ouch!

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  10. Gorgeous makeover! ( I did a backgammon game )
    I'm your newest follower - would love to have you come
    by and follow back when you have the chance!
    Hugs,
    SUzan

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  11. I love how it looks too! Now that you converted into a checkerboard table I see the vision you saw when you first laid eyes on her. Very cute, don't worry you'd nevernotice that broken joint! Thanks for sharing your creative inspiration with Sunday’s Best – you helped make the party a success!

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  12. Oops, forgot to tell you I'm following you with Facebook!

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  13. Hi, I found your wonderful redo of this table into the game table at The Shabby Nest and just had to stop by and read about it. As a chessplayer and promoter of chess for female players, I am interested in all things chessly, as well as the history of the development of board games in ancient times. I have a chess/archaeology/everything blog and a decorating/decor/fashion, etc. blog and sometimes my interests overlap, as in the case of your lovely table redo. I hope you don't mind -- I featured your table redo in a blog post at Goddesschess.blogspot.com and used two of your photographs - one before shot and one after shot. I should have asked permission before I posted it - doh. May I use?

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  14. Thanks, Sherry, for your permission to use the pics and link back to this post. Learning chess is a wonderful way to develop highly desirable skills in a child (male and female), I won't bore you with all the details of tons of academic studies done, buthelping with development of logical thinking skills, analysis, patience, good sportsmanship, how to deal with stress and pressure, how to deal with defeat gracefully and with dignity, and how to be a modest and gracious victor, among other things. Okay, end of preaching :)

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  15. How creative! You can't beat a free table!!!

    I am your newest follower from Thee Networking Blog Hop! What a awesome list of bloggers! Love for you to stop by and return the follow when you can.

    www.thenaptimereview.com

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  16. Thanks for linking up to last week's Tuesday Confessional link party! Your post has been featured so head on over and grab a brag button!
    http://www.craftyconfessions.com/2012/08/tuesday-confessional-features_26.html
    ~Macy

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