project: sista' slate the coffee table

So...we've been looking for a coffee table...
hubby found a lot that would do...
I found a lot I hated to spend more than $50 on (which were all over $250)...
and we found one that we both agreed we were in LOVE with...
kinda like this one which is a little bit like this one:

from here

for $1400.

...we didn't buy it.

So we did what we always do when we can't reach a decision...
ignore the issue.

Then this came...

mangoes!

and because our existing coffee table had two glass panels on top we decided that we couldn't ignore the coffee table quest for much longer.

But to spend a few hundred dollars on something that will in the next few years probably see a lot of this,

this,

and this...

is not my idea of a good time.

So...we improvised!

We had to paint it because as I previously mentioned...Kane ate a leg and a few corners of the table when he was a young whipper-snapper.
We removed the glass panels and were left with this:

Next, we sanded the wood down and painted Behr's Pebble Stone.

Then we had a piece of plywood cut to size and screwed it into the wooden frame,
afterward we spent f-o-r-e-v-e-r figuring out how to arrange the slate tiles...
We got our measurements wrong and were left with about 3 extra inches of tile with no table top to put it on...uh oh!

So off to Home Depot...no wait Lowe's...to have the tile cut with a wet saw!
<they are much much MUCH more helpful at Lowe's>

But in the end it turned out even better because we arranged the tile diagonally- always more appealing to the eye!

don't you agree?

So we adhered the tiles...

then added the grout...
We thought we could stop here.

But no...apparently natural stone tile should be sealed?
who knew?

So we applied sealer...and again...and again.

And alas, still we were not finished...
the top looks great but the legs and sides...
just too fresh and to clean, clean, clean...

So out came the sand paper!
And out came the glaze!

And here is the final result!!!

<please excuse the poor lighting...and dirty house...and inconsiderate doggies, who are always weaseling their ways into pictures and leaving their toys sitting around the dirty house...>


We really like it!

Next...the end tables!

Added bonus...I have the left over slate pieces to put at the bottom of my potted plants now!  (to help with drainage and I don't have to steal gravel from our driveway anymore!)



Plus...
my Momma came to visit last weekend!!!