Burlap Topped Table

Luckily, I had a home sale recently so I have a few things to show you! 
Today I'll share how I made this burlap topped table....

I started with a standard mahogany finished side table.
It had a shaped top with a routered edge. 

Covering something like that with burlap is more difficult because the edge is not sharp...so off came the top!

Then my hubs cut a plain, square edged rectangular top out of finished plywood....that's a scrap he had so you could use unfinished plywood or anything else you like since it will be completely covered. He rounded off the corners just a bit so the burlap would wrap smoothly.
Now, I included this pic even though it's REALLY blurry because it was the only one I had...just so you can see the unfinished top.

I didn't take many pics of the process because there was not much to see....

I used a piece of printed burlap for this, bought a LONG time ago at JoAnn's. I made a burlap topped table last year but used plain burlap that I stenciled. You can see that here......

Using the plain burlap and stenciling is a wonderful look, but it means buying a piece of glass for the top to protect the fabric from water and stains.

I wanted to try and come up with a different method so I didn't have the expense of the glass.

I had been mulling over the idea of attaching the burlap to the table and then coating it with polyurethane, so I decided this small table was the one to experiment on!

First step was to just attach the burlap to the table. I used upholstery tacks along the edge (that's why it is best if it's not rounded) pulling it nice and taut. I just folded under the raw edge as I went along. There's more info on the tutorial link above for the previous table I did. Once it was all attached, I used brush on polyurethane and began applying several coats over a period of 2 days.

Once the poly had been well applied and I felt it was firm and sort of hard, I noticed that it had caused the burlap to "feather" and it felt prickly when I ran my hand over the table. Since I was experimenting anyway, I decided to just take the vibrating sander (orbital or palm sander) and go over the top lightly....praying that I would remove the prickly stuff and not tear through the burlap!

It worked like a charm! Since there were about 4 coats of poly, I was really sanding the poly and not touching the burlap at all. I ended up with a textured feel but no prickly sharpness!

Now I focused on the base. As I've said before...I am not being a very good vendor for poor Miss Mustard Seed because I haven't been using the paint very much! Thank goodness for some of my customers who have sent me pics...I LOVE YOU!!!

Anyway, I showed you the antique table I finished with a combo of chalk and milk paint already and even though I was dying to try another color....I needed to use the Typewriter color again with this one.

Once again, I had sprayed the base with primer because I didn't want a very chippy look here. Two coats of Typewriter.....

 Some distressing, waxing....and.....what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by today! 
BUY PAINT!!! 
Gosh...I'm so lame...LOL


One last thing.....
Please keep remembering the East coast folks who are still reeling from the storm. The pics are just so sad....

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