Upcycling existing furniture is an excellent way to infuse a space with character and individuality, while also benefiting the environment. However, upcycling furniture need not be expensive. In this post, we demonstrate how we transformed a cheap and uninspiring pine console table into a stunning botanical-themed pet feeding station for less than £100.
Our mission was to create a beautiful piece for a space typically reserved for feeding Benji (the Labrador). The piece needed to have a vintage style, exude elegance, include a designated area for Benji's food and water bowls, as well as storage for treats, poop bags, dog combs, and other small pet-related items (fortunately, larger food containers were stored elsewhere). Furthermore, it had to be durable and able to withstand splashes of food and water. And all of this had to be accomplished on a budget of under £100 (excluding paint and plants which we already had).
Thrifty Spender
"Wait a minute," you may be thinking, "wouldn't buying a table alone eat up the entire budget?" 🤔
The key to upcycling is precisely that: repurposing an existing piece of furniture. If you haven't already identified a piece to work with, online marketplaces such as Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree can be incredibly helpful. Every day, people discard perfectly usable furniture simply because it no longer suits their interior decor. Fortunately, many of these individuals will advertise these items on these platforms, often at a much lower price than buying something new (in some cases, the items are free because the owners simply want to dispose of them).
For upcyclers, this is ideal, and for the environment, it's even better, as it means that many of these unwanted items find new homes rather than ending up in landfills. That's how we found a basic, mass-produced pine console table for £10, which we transformed into a beautiful and one-of-a-kind piece.
The Design
As both an upcycler and an interior designer, these two roles complement each other perfectly. Being an upcycler isn't just about the physical process of repurposing furniture; it's also about letting your creativity run wild and designing something that not only looks stunning but is also practical. Before we got started on this project, we sketched out some rough concepts of how we wanted the finished piece to look and listed all the materials and tools we would need, including paint, accessories, and anything else required.
For this particular design, we envisioned a tiered station in a Victorian style with a modern twist. We wanted the piece to double as a plant display (who doesn't love houseplants?), so we needed to give the table some extra height to accommodate the tiers of plant pots. To achieve this, we added a new top shelf on wooden legs, which was shallower than the table top to create a step effect for the top row of plants.
The drawers were the perfect spot to store dog treats and other small items, and the dog bowls would sit on the existing bottom shelf. We realized we would need to cover the surface of the bottom shelf with something other than paint to protect it from water and dog food splashes, so we opted for Victorian-style vinyl tiles. We considered using real tiles, but this would have been too expensive, and vinyl tiles were perfectly adequate for this project.
We painted the entire piece in Farrow & Ball Studio Green No. 93 (using Modern Eggshell for added durability) and replaced the drawer handles with antique brass handles that complemented the dark green color but had a modern shape to keep the overall design from looking too dated.
We also decided to make the unit mobile so that it could be moved around or cleaned underneath. As part of the design, we added vintage-style brass castors to the bottom of the table legs and handles on each side to make it easy to move.
As upcyclers, we always have plenty of leftover paint lying around, and we were fortunate to have some leftover F&B Studio Green from a previous project. So, armed with our materials list, we headed off to the local DIY store to get everything we needed.
The process
It's all in the prep
First things first, we started by removing the existing handles from the console table and gave it a thorough clean using sugar soap to get rid of any dirt and grease before painting. We filled the holes from the old handles with wood filler and sanded them down once dry before drilling holes for the new handles.
We usually sand the entire piece of furniture with 120 grit sandpaper to create a key for the new paint to stick to, but we didn't really need to for this pine table as it was untreated. Nonetheless we gave it a light sand just in case there were any loose fibres of wood that we didn't want to show once painted.
In our original design, we decided that the additional top tier should be just high enough to fit small plants beneath, so we cut the stair spindles down to size to serve as legs to support the top tier. We were lucky that the wood we had purchased for the top tier shelf fit perfectly and required no cutting. We then sanded the spindles and the top shelf with 120 grit sandpaper to get rid of any jagged bits.
Next we drilled holes into the ends of each spindle and inserted wood dowels, and we also drilled holes into the table top and underside of the top tier to accommodate the spindle dowels. After adding a dob of wood glue to the ends of the spindles, we secured them in place on the table top and added the top tier shelf.
We cut the vintage vinyl tiles to size and glued into place on the bottom shelf. To finish the edges, we added thin strips of L-shaped molding around the edges of the shelf, overlapping the edges of the vinyl slightly.
Before painting, we primed the entire table with undercoat, using Farrow & Ball Dark Tones undercoat. This took two coats, leaving at least 4 hours between each coat, using a small medium pile roller and a small brush to get into the details. Once dry, we painted the Studio Green topcoat, which also took two coats, leaving at least 4 hours and lightly sanding between each coat.
Tips:
Take your time to achieve the perfect finish and avoid rushing the job.
Apply the right amount of paint: not too much, not too little.
Pay attention to drips along the edges and use a brush or roller to smooth them out while the paint is still wet, saving you the trouble of sanding later.
Don't rush the drying time, especially when using Farrow & Ball eggshell paint. Applying a second coat before the first one is completely dry can cause the paint to become sticky and tacky.
Use high-quality brushes and rollers to minimise texture in the dried paint.
To achieve an extra-smooth finish, consider lightly wet and dry sanding between coats to minimize any roller or brush texture and remove any particles that may have landed on the surface while the paint was drying.
Lastly, make sure to allow the paint to fully cure before using the surface to avoid any damage to the finish.
After all the paint layers have dried, it's important to let the table cure undisturbed for approximately two weeks before placing anything on it. Yes, you read that right - two weeks!
While Farrow & Ball Eggshell paint may appear dry to the touch within hours, it takes longer for it to fully cure. Curing is a gradual process where the moisture evaporates from the paint, leaving behind only the hardened pigment. If you can easily leave a mark on the paint with your fingernail, it hasn't fully cured yet. Placing objects on the painted surface such as a vase or plant pot can cause them to stick to the paint and remove it when you try to move them. This is why we highly recommend allowing sufficient drying time between coats. If the previous coats don't dry completely, the resulting tacky paint may take months, or even years, to fully dry.
The finishing touches
After the paint had fully cured, we stained the inside of the drawers with a rich walnut wood stain, which gave the pine a more upscale appearance when opened. Then, we affixed the brass castors to the legs by simply screwing them in and added new handles to the drawers. For decorative purposes, we also included a handle on each end of the top tier shelf, but it also proved helpful for pushing and pulling the now-mobile feeding station. Finally, we filled Benji's water and food bowls, stocked the drawers with doggie treats, and placed rows of plants in beautiful vintage-style ceramic pots, which provided a striking pop of color against the dark green.
Conclusion
In summary, we thoroughly enjoyed transforming a plain pine console table into a one-of-a-kind piece that adds personality and charm to the room. The finished product serves a dual purpose as both a stylish conversation starter and a functional feeding station for Benji, complete with a vintage plant stand 🙂🐾🛠🪴
Total spend
Pine table: £10
Paint: £0 (left over from previous project)
Brushes, rollers, sandpaper: £0 (already had)
Handles: £17.33
Castors: £15
Stair spindles: £15.88
Shelf: £11.25
Plants: £30
Looking to add some character to your home with a unique piece? Consider an upcycled item! Feel free to contact us!