After seeing the final paint job I question why it was the original color in the first place. It looks so much better with the darker paint.

Wow, perfect! What a great find.

I love old marble

I actually acquired my grandparents' marble-top table and have been fretting over whether to paint its wooden base or not. While I may not paint the wooden base black, I would like to thank "Mr Lively" for showing me (at the very least) that with a little imagination and courage, a beautiful marble table can successfully be updated.

Whoa! I bought a marble-top table at Goodwill for about $10 last year, and the wood was a mess. I painted it a mossy green, but now I want to paint it glossy black!!! Love!

Nice! Worlds better than the early-90s snoozer it was before.

Wow! Beautiful!

HOLY CRAP...BEAUTIFUL!

Beautiful! Well done!

@Charlotte - Roots and Rafters
Early 90's? I think it's more between 50's to 70's.

Regardless is a great job, fantastic transformation! Besides, the finished wood lovers cannot complaint about ruining a piece with paint (oh, the the nice wood grain...). I just wish we had another shot of the living room set up....

Great job and it looks fab with the rug too.

Agreed, @YTess... in fact, it may be as early as the 30s or 40s.

My mom bought a cabinet from a vintage shop that is a dead ringer for this style (paint and all). Hidden inside the cabinet, we found a little note that indicated the cabinet was either from 1938 or 1940-something... I can't quite remember. But it's certainly not anywhere near the 90s.

There are a lot of these old marble topped coffee/side tables in antique stores and on Craigslist here in central PA, I've always stopped and considered taking one on, this is definitely good inspiration.

A million thank-yous are headed your way. I recently bought a marble-topped table at a Habitat Re-Store that I love, but I need to replace the (flaking) gold leaf finish. I was unsure what color to paint it (flat black, matte charcoal, chalk paint in deep gray, ???).

Seeing this is an awesome inspiration and makes it a lot easier to visualize my table with something other than OTT gold. Mine is more of a Hollywood Regency style, so probably not as old as yours, but I think copying your paint color will help show off the beautiful marble.

I am with the early 90s assessment; the darker contrasting paint the the crevices of the table screams faux-antique to me, but I'd need to see a more detailed shot to really be sure.

At any rate, MASSIVE improvement.

the black looks nice but I prefer the "before"

I LOVE the black!!

Looks way better.

My sister inherited a table that looks almost exactly the same, I don't know how old hers is, but it was our Grandmother's for many years. Hers is unpainted and I'm pretty sure it's something really nice like Walnut or Cherry.

How does one get such a smooth, uniform finish like this? Did you use a spray gun to apply the paint? If so, you can't really say it's a $75 job (at least not for someone who doesn't have the supplies).

Hi everyone! I'm glad you like my table!

Just for the record (since it's hard to tell in this exact photo) I used a dark gray semi-gloss, not black. It is the same color as the darker gray veining in the marble itself. I simply used a brush to paint it on, no spray gun.

And if you'd like to see it in the full room check out the Design Sponge tour: http://www.designsponge.com/2013/01/sneak-peek-jess-mr-lively.html#comments.

: )

I never would have even thought about a table like this, but I definitely will now. This looks so great. Jen, they have some really great paint in spray cans that would work on a small job like this with some good prep.

looks great!

Very nicely done!

Just peeked at Jess website, great living room... What kind of paint did your use? Brand, and shade.... please,,,,,

For those wondering about the age of this coffee table, I own one that looks exactly the same. It was passed down to me from my grandmother, who bought it as a "vintage" piece in the 1950's. So it has to be older than that...I'm guessing 30's? Also, the base on mine is a dark-finished wood, which I am sure has never been re-done.

YTess, the white is primer and the gray is Benjamin Moore Charcoal.

To me this looks more like a charcoal gray than black. I like how the gray brings out the gray tones in the marble.

I can NEVER seem to spray paint so smoothly! And your apt tour is FABULOUS,they should show it on here.

color me embarrassed,I meant to say brush,not spray.

YTess: Jess Lively did a lovely job updating this table and it looks great. However, ruining patina or expensive veneers by carelessly slapping paint on furniture for the sake of trendiness is still regrettable.

Patina and expensive veneer... where are these things here?
Please, explain us.
I agree with other people here the table doesn't look antique but faux antique.

Really love the new color. I would have gone bold with it like painting it Teal or Yellow.

Wow. When I saw the before photo I thought there is nothing you could do to make that table pretty or attractive. I was so wrong! Wow. Nice job!

Again, a piece is only as valuable as the demand for it. Painting this dark gray is a stroke of genius as you need a dark in order to see light! jenjo is so right! The color does enhance the marbling!