DIY Furniture Makeover; Night Stand Makeover!
This post brought to you by Elmer’s ProBond Advanced. All opinions are 100% mine.

We have loved living in our new house. But one of the troubles with moving is we had to get rid of a lot of furniture because it wouldn’t all fit into the moving truck. That means after arriving and moving in; that furniture needs to be replaced. We’ve been picking up pieces here and there. But one thing that kept eluding me were night stands for my boys. I wanted something to match their rooms; but not cost a fortune. I wasn’t finding it. So I decided to do a DIY furniture makeover. I mean if you want something done right; you have to do it yourself. That seemed to be the case here at least.
DIY Furniture makeover tutorial
To get started go to a thrift store, or watch garage sale sites, or stalk garage sales. When you find a sturdy piece of furniture for a decent price you have a winner! Upcycling or doing a furniture makeover is a great way to give a sturdy piece of furniture a 2nd life and keep your pocket book from being emptied.
I’ve been hunting for end tables for weeks. And I lucked onto a miracle. Two identical end tables at a garage sale for $10 for both of them! I checked and they were sturdy, though not much to look at. But they had a lot of potential! So I grabbed them. Then comes the brain storming. How can I make these fun and unique and work well for the boys.

Step 1 of your DIY Furniture Makeover: Paint
First idea was that they needed to be painted. The surface definitely isn’t something I wanted to leave as it was. But being my first DIY furniture project; I didn’t want to deal with sanding or the likes. I wanted something fairly easy to do.

My friend Maureen from Made by Marzipan suggested Chalk Paint. She’s an brilliant DIY crafter; so I definitely took her up on that idea! And I loved it.
Seriously ladies; you may want to warn your husbands if they don’t want the entire house redone in chalk paint; they may want to hide it from you after your first project. Because once you start; you are going to want to upcycle all of your furniture! It is fun and easy!
The chalk paint doesn’t have a strong potent odor, you don’t need to sand or prime before painting; and it washes off your hands and clothes and even hair just fine if you are a messy painter like me!
I used Folk Art Chalk Paint that can be found at Joann’s Craft store or on Amazon.
I did the legs and trimming in Irish Green, and the table tops in Java.

I started our little table off with a few coats of chalk paint. That is the part that took the most time. Waiting for the paint to dry before the next coat. Once you have the number of coats you want and it is completely dry; then you want to finish off with the Folk Art Wax. It protects the paint and gives it a little smoother texture. Then allow it to completely dry.

Step 2 of your DIY Furniture Makeover: Surface upgrade
Next I wanted to make the table more durable. This is going into a boys room after all. The first thing that always happens is the top gets scratched up. So I was brainstorming on how I could make the top more durable. On both levels.
I settled on Tile for the top and Aluminum sheet metal for the 2nd layer. I didn’t want to over weight the table with two tiles. But still wanted something to help protect the 2nd shelf. I found both at my local hardware store. Just make sure you measure well before you go to get the right size.


The top is 18″X18″ so I found the right sized tile. And even better; My hardware store offers free Tile cutting. Since the corners are angled on the table top; I had them trim off the edges of the tile for me right there in the store. And it fit perfectly.

I had a few options for the Aluminum sheet metal; but I went with the pattern that my boys preferred the most.
Once we were home we measured out the sheet metal and marked where it needed to be cut.

Make sure you lay it on the table to ensure the perfect fit.

Once you have the tile and the aluminum sheet metal fit perfectly it is time to bond them to the table. For this I used Elmer’s Probond Advanced glue.

ProBond Advanced is Elmer’s strongest and safest multi-surface glue that is able to provide strength, durability, and ease of use with a clean finished appearance. It provides Home Improvers the ability to bond mixed materials such as wood to metal, glass to concrete, or ceramic to drywall without the messy residue often left behind from a polyurethane glue.
ProBond Advanced made it easy to bond my mixed materials such as the tile and sheet metal to the wood without the messy foam residue that would normally ruin the finished appearance. And is dries into a translucent paintable finish that is 100% weatherproof.
All you have to do is lightly apply the ProBond Advanced to the back surface of the tile, place it, clamp and relax while it dries.


For the sheet metal I applied the Probond along each design row, placed the sheet metal and then strategically placed water bottles around the top to ensure it would stay down in place as it dried.


Step 3 of your DIY Furniture Makeover: Accessorize
Lastly I added the accessory hooks. I wanted the end table to be something that will grow with my boys. And still be useful to them when they are teenagers. We all know teenagers love their electronics. So I added hooks to the front. These are great for hanging headphones, or keeping electronic cords organized and hung nicely. There are lots of ideas on how you can use the accessory hooks!
Again with the Elmer’s Probond; just apply a little to the back of the hook and bind it where you want the hook. Use the clamping tape to ensure a sturdy bond. And allow to dry for a day.


After the table has sat for a day to dry; simply remove the clamping tape and the new side table is ready for use!
OK, so now are you ready for the unveiling? I’m going to flood your eyes with photos of the finished product now! Are you sure you’re ready?


The 2nd level is all ready for his Lego’s and books and protected so it won’t get scratched up again! Go Aluminum Sheet Metal!

The tile top is also well protected from scratching and gives a solid surface to hold a lamp, fan, alarm clock and more!

The accessory hook has the boy ecstatic as he can’t wait to use it to keep his night stand better organized.

What a difference right? Complete make over that gives this fun little table a whole new purpose and life. Our boy is so excited for his night stand. He just loves it! And so do I. I can’t wait to do more!

Right now I only have this one table done. I’m still working on finishing the other table as I’m dong a unique paint job on that one. So be sure to keep your eyes open for it in our upcoming How to paint furniture with chalk paint tutorial. You are sure to love it! I had to do a unique paint job on that one so it would match the 2nd son’s bedroom. It’s going to be awesome!
For more fun DIY projects check out Elmer’s Mixed Materials Pinterest board.

What would you do with your new DIY Furniture upcycled table?
How would you make your upcycled night stand unique?
You did an awesome job with it and I LOVE the shade of green that you picked out!!
It’s amazing what a fresh paint job will do! I really love that bright color and the metal accent- I’d definitely buy this to accent my home!
Such a great idea! I love the tile on top to protect the wood and the hooks to hold all the wires we have going on in our world!
OH wow I love that! The tile and metal finishing give it a great look.
Wow, what an amazing transformation! I love that green on the table.
I LOVE this. It is absolutely adorable. Thank you for the tutorial!
Great job! I’ve never actually used paint chalk before. Does it leave a matte finish? And is it smooth or kind of gritty? I love how you took an old piece and made it new rather than throwing it to the curb!
I absolutely love this. It’s beautiful, it’s functional, and the color is great.
This is a great project. You really made a masterpiece of this table. Great job!
Um that is like the BEST-EST DIY Table makeover I have ever seen! So many little details made it so special!
I am a big fan of furniture redos and this one it top notch. I love the metal inlay. I cant believe the glue holds the hooks. That is incredible!
Great job, I love the hooks on it too – what a brilliant idea. I’d say this was a massive success!
Beautiful makeover! I love that green color a LOT–I wish I had more time to redo furniture. Jealous of you!
I love that shade of green along with the hooks for headphones, etc. You are so creative!
This turned out wonderful! What a great way to up cycle!
That turned out absolutely perfect. I don’t know how you have time to do projects like that, but you’re so good at them.
Oh my goodness, that looks amazing. I would have never thought of green but totally love it. Thanks so much for sharing.
I love that green color! It really pops!
I love upcycling furniture! Brilliant to add some hooks – turned out lovely!
i have a couple of pieces of furniture that i want to redo and i am looking into different options with the paint. thanks for sharing. I’ve pinned this for later.
What a beautiful makeover – I especially love the color you chose. Now I’m inspired to get crafty!
This turned out great! I love what you did with the tables colors and adding the different materials for the table tops.
Wow, you did a lot to that table. I picked up a table from my neighbor, she didn’t want it. It’s bright yellow and very sturdy. I love the color, will probably just repaint it the same color and use it in my kitchen. Love what you did!
What a fantastic and creative project. I can not believe how you turned that plain night table into such a cool piece of furniture.
What an awesome tutorial! Your finished product looks AMAZING!!!
I love it!!! This is totally me, I always find things to up-cycle. Love the tile on top and wow look at the glue, I had no idea that Elmer’s made a glue that would hold my things that strong… Thanks for sharing, this will need to get into my MUST have cabinet..love the paint color…
Wow, this came out really awesome! I am impressed on how you took this from boring to wow!!
Great job, love that little lego piece, and the idea of the peg so you can keep things organized