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Before and After: Vintage Telephone Table

painted vintage telephone table after

Someone left this sad little vintage telephone table on the side of the road and I took it home. I loved the different materials used in the design, horizontal bars and curved plywood shapes. I could see the potential and had to give it a new life.

Vintage telephone table before and after
vintage telephone table before

Since the entire table was made from plywood with faux wood grain laminate and rusted metal, I lightly sanded everything and coated it all in CIL Smart3 Primer. The trick is to do several thin coats of primer, trust me, being patient and spending more time on this stage will save you pain and suffering later on.

I sprayed the small horizontal bars and the caps on the legs with chrome spray paint and painted the table surfaces with Benjamin Moore High Gloss Advance in Mantis Greenย and Snowfall White as an accent on the legs and side pieces.

The result is so fresh, check it out:

Painted vintage telephone table before and after
Painted vintage telephone table before and after
Painted vintage telephone table before and after

7 thoughts on “Before and After: Vintage Telephone Table”

    1. Thanks Anna! I feel lucky to have found it for free. I’m sure you’ll find one soon enough ๐Ÿ™‚

  1. This is fabulous! I have a table so similar to this that I picked up for a steal, but was at a loss for how to spruce it up. These are great tips re: several coats of primer, I wouldn’t have thought to paint more than one coat of primer. I will let you know how it turns out!

    1. Hi Katy
      The primer is key, makes a nice surface for the top coat to stick, I do about 2 coats, depends on the surface you’re painting. I find 3 coats are better on pieces that have a bit of texture that really absorbs the paint…it’s better to let the surface absorb primer rather than your expensive top coat. Good luck and I hope to see yours soon!

  2. Jeff

    I searched the net for this particular table and found this page. I was talking with a friend about how many things we’ve lost over the years and using furniture as an example. I have one of these tables next to my bed as well as a few other pieces that have become obsolete in modern day because of technology or modern trends.

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